Tom Swift and his airship

APPLETON

University of California • Berkeley

DONALD SIDNEY-FRYER
COLLECTION

STRAIGHT AT THE TOWER RUSHED THE RED CI^OUD, AND

IT A GLANCING BIvOW,

Page

torn Swift and His Airship

TOM SWIFT AND
HIS AIRSHIP

BY
VICTOR APPLETON

OF "TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR-CYCLE," "TOM SWIFT AND
MOTOR BOAT," "TOM SWIFT AND HIS SUBMARINE BOAT," ETC.

ILLUSTRATED

NEW YORK

GROSSET & DUNLAP

PUBLISHERS

Made in the United State* of America

BOOKS BY VICTOR APPLETON
THE TOM SWIFT SERIES

TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR-CYCLE

Or Fun and Adventure on the Road
TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR-BOAT

Or the Rivals of Lake, ^arlopa
TOM SWIFT AND H£5 AIRSHIP

Or the Stirring Cruise of the Red Cloud
TOM SWIFT AND HIS SUBMARINE BOAT

Or Under the Ocean for Sunken Treasure
TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RUNABOUT

Or the Speediest Car on the Road

(Other Volumes in preparation)

tamo. Cloth. Illustrated

Postpaid

GROSSET & DUNLAP
PUBLISHERS NEW YORK

COPYRIGHT, 1910, BY
GROSSET & DUNLAP

Tom Swift and His Airship

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I AN EXPLOSION i

II NED SEES MYSTERIOUS MEN 12

III WHITEWASHED 24

IV A TRIAL TRIP 36

V COLLIDING WITH A TOWER 48

VI GETTING OFF THE ROOF 56

VII ANDY TRIES A TRICK 66

VIII WINNING A PRIZE 75

IX THE RUNAWAY AUTO 86

X A BAG OF TOOLS 94

XI THE "RED CLOUD" DEPARTS 103

XII SOME STARTLING NEWS in

Kill MR. DAMON IN DANGER 117

XIV ANDY GIVES THE CLUE 124

XV FIRED UPON 134

XVI OVER A FIERY FURNACE 141

XVII "WANTED— FOR ROBBERY !" 150

XVIII BACK FOR VINDICATION * 160

ill

Iv CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

XIX WRECKED 168

XX TOM GETS A CLUE 177

XXI ON THE TRAIL x86

XXII THE SHERIFF ON BOARD 291

XXIII ON TO THE CAMP „ 197

XXIV THE RAID 201

XXV ANDY GETS His REWARD 209

TOM SWIFT AND HIS
AIRSHIP

CHAPTER I

AN EXPLOSION

"ARE you all ready, Tom?"

"All ready, Mr. Sharp," replied a young man,
who was stationed near some complicated appara-
tus, while the questioner, a dark man, with a ner*
vous manner, leaned over a large tank.

"I'm going to turn on the gas now," went on
the man. "Look out for yourself. I'm not sure
what may happen."

"Neither am I, but I'm ready for it If it does
explode it can't do much damage."

"Oh, I hope it doesn't explode. We've had so
much trouble with the airship, I trust nothing
goes wrong now."

"Well, turn on the gas, Mr. Sharp," advised
Tom Swift "I'll watch the pressure gauge, andg

i

2 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

if it goes too high, I'll warn you, and you can shut
it off."

The man nodded, and, with a small wrench in
his hand, went to one end of the tank. The youth,
looking anxiously at him, turned his gaze now and
then toward a gauge, somewhat like those on
steam boilers, which gauge was attached to an alu-
minum, cigar-chaped affair, about five feet long.

Presently there was a hissing sound in the
small frame building where the two were conduct-
ing an experiment which meant much to them.
The hissing grew louder.

"Be ready to jump," advised Mr. Sharp.

"I will," answered the lad. "But the pressure
is going up very slowly. Maybe you'd better turn
on more gas."

"I will. Here she goes ! Look out now. You
can't tell what is going to happen."

With a sudden hiss, as the powerful gas, under
pressure, passed from the tank, through the pipes,
and into the aluminum container, the hand on the
gauge swept past figure after figure on the dial.
, "Shut it off !" cried Tom quickly. "It's coming
too fast! Shut her off!"

The man sprang to obey the command, and,
with nervous fingers, sought to fit the wrench
Over the nipple of the controlling valve. Then
bis face seemed to turn white with fean

AN EXPLOSION 3

"I can't move it!" Mr. Sharp yelled. "It's
jammed ! I can't shut off the gas ! Run ! Look
out! She'll explode!"

Tom Swift, the young inventor, whose ac-
quaintance some of you have previously made,
gave one look at the gauge, and seeing that the
pressure was steadily mounting, endeavored to
reach, and open, a stop-cock, that he might re-
lieve the strain. One trial showed him that the
valve there had jammed too, and catching up a
roll of blue prints the lad made a dash for the
door of the shop. He was not a second behind
his companion, and hardly had they passed out of
the structure before there was a loud explosion
which shook the building, and shattered all the
windows in it.

Pieces of wood, bits of metal, and a cloud of
sawdust and shavings flew out of the door after
the man and the youth, and this was followed
by a cloud of yellowish smoke.

"Are you hurt, Tom?" cried Mr. Sharp, as he
swung around to look back at the place where
the hazardous experiment had been conducted.

"Not a bit! How about you?"

"I'm all right. But it was touch and go ! Good
thing you had the gauge on, or we'd never have
known when to run. Well, we've made another

4 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

failure of it," and the man spoke somewhat bit-
terly.

"Never mind, Mr. Sharp," went on Tom Swift,
"I think it will be the last mistake. I see what
the trouble is now; and know how to remedy it
Come on back, and we'll try it again; that is if
the tank hasn't blown up."

"No, I guess that's all right. It was the alu-
minum container that went up, and that's so light
it didn't do much damage. But we'd better wait
until some of those fumes escape. They're not
healthy to breathe."

The cloud of yellowish smoke was slowly roll-
ing away, and the man and lad were approaching
the shop, which, in spite of the explosion that had
taken place in it, was still intact, when an aged
man, coming from a handsome house not far off,
called out:

"Tom, is anyone hurt?"

"No, dad. We're all right."

"What happened?"

"Well, we had another explosion. We can't
Seem to get the right mixture of the gas, but I
think we've had the last of our bad luck. We're
going to try it again. Up to now the gas has been
too strong, the tank too weak, or else our valve
control is bad."

"Oh dear,, Mr. Swift! Do tell them to be care-

AN EXPLOSION g

ful!" a woman's voice chimed in. "I'm sure
something dreadful will happen! This is about
the tenth time something has blown up around
here, and "

"It's only the ninth, Mrs. Baggert," interrupted
Tom, somewhat indignantly.

"Well, goodness me ! Isn't nine almost as bad
as ten ? There I was, just putting my bread in the
oven," went on Mrs. Baggert, the housekeeper,
"and I was so startled that I dropped it, and now
uie dough is all over the kitchen floor. I never
saw such a muss."

"I'm sorry," answered the youth, trying not to
laugh. "We'll see that it doesn't happen again."

"Yes ; that's what you always say," rejoined the
motherly-looking woman, who looked after the
interests of Mr. Swift's home.

"Well, we mean it this time," retorted the lad.
"We see where our mistake was ; don't we. Mr.
Sharp?"

"I think so," replied the other seriously.

"Come on back, and we'll see what damage was
done," proposed Tom. "Maybe we can rig up an-
other container, mix some fresh gas, and make the
final experiment this afternoon."

"Now do be careful," cautioned Mr. Swift, the
aged inventor, once more. "I'm afraid you two
have set too hard a task for yourselves this time."

6 TOM SWIFT 'AND HIS AIRSHIP

"No we haven't, dad," answered his son*
"You'll see us yet skimming along above th€
clouds."

"Humph ! If you go above the clouds I shan't
be very likely to see you. But go slowly, now.
Don't blow the place up again."

Mr. Swift went into the house, followed by
Mrs. Baggert, who was loudly bewailing the fate
of her bread. Tom and Mr. Sharp started to-
ward the shop where they had been working. It
was one of several buildings, built for experi-
mental purposes and patent work by Mr. Swift,
near his home.

"It didn't do so very much damage," observed
Tom, as he peered in through a window, void of
all the panes of glass. "We can start right in."

"Hold on! Wait! Don't try it now!" ex-
claimed Mr. Sharp, who talked in short, snappy
sentences, which, however, said all he meant. "The
fumes of that gas aren't good to breathe. Wait
until they have blown away. It won't be long.
It's safer."

He began to cough, choking from the pungent
odor, and Tom felt an unpleasant tickling sen*
sation in his throat.

"Take a walk around," advised Mr. Sharp. "I'll
be looking over the blue prints. Let's have 'em."

Tom handed over the roll he had grabbed ug

AN EXPLOSION 7

when he ran from the shop, just before the ex-
plosion took place, and, while his companion
spread them out on his knee, as he sat on an up-
turned barrel, the lad walked toward the rear of
the large yard. It was enclosed by a high board
fence, with a locked gate, but Tom, undoing the
fastenings, stepped out into a broad, green mea-
dow at the rear of his father's property. As he
did so he saw three boys running toward him.

"Hello!" exclaimed our hero. "There are Andy
Foger, Sam Snedecker and Pete Bailey. I won-
der what they're heading this way for?"

On the trio came, increasing their pace as they
caught sight of Tom. Andy Foger, a red-haired
and squint-eyed lad, a sort of town bully, with a
rich and indulgent father, was the first to reach
the young inventor.

"How — how many are killed ?" panted Andy.

"Shall we go for doctors?" asked Sam.

"Can we see the place?" blurted out Pete, and
he had to sit down on the grass, he was so winded.

"Killed? Doctors?" repeated Tom, clearly
much puzzled. "What are you fellows driving at,
anyhow ?"

"Wasn't there a lot of people killed in the ex-
plosion we heard?" demanded A.nd>v in eager
tones.

"Not a one," replied Tom.

8 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

"There was an explosion!" exclaimed Pete*
"We heard it, and you can't fool us!"

"And we saw the smoke," added Snedecker.

"Yes, there was a small explosion," admitted
Tom, with a smile, "but no one was killed; or
even hurt. We don't have such things happen in
our shops."

"Nobody killed?" repeated Andy questioning-
ly, and the disappointment was evident in his
tones.

"Nobody hurt?" added Sam, his crony, and
he, too, showed his chagrin.

"All our run for nothing," continued Pete, an-
other crony, in disgust.

"What happened?" demanded the red-haired
lad, as if he had a right to know. "We were
walking along the lake road, and we heard an
awful racket. If the police come out here, you'll
have to tell what it was, Tom Swift." He spoke
defiantly.

"I've no objection to telling you or the po-
lice," replied Tom. "There was an explosion. My
friend, Mr. Sharp, the balloonist, and I were con-
ducting an experiment with a new kind of gas,
and it was too strong, that's all. An aluminum
container blew up, but no particular damage was
done. I hope you're satisfied."

"Humph! What you making, anyhow?" de-

'AN EXPLOSION g

manded Andy, and again he spoke as if he had
a right to know.

"I don't know that it's any of your business,"
Tom came back at him sharply, "but, as every-
one will soon know, I may as well tell you. We're
building an airship."

"An airship?" exclaimed Sam and Pete in one
breath.

"An airship?" queried Andy, and there was a
sneer in his voice. "Well, I don't think you can
do it, Tom Swift! You'll never build an airship;
even if you have a balloonist to help you I"

"I won't, eh?" and Tom was a trifle nettled at
the sneering manner of his rival.

"No, you won't! It takes a smarter fellow
than you are to build an airship that will sail. I
believe I could beat you at it myself."

"Oh, you think you could?" asked Tom, and
this time he had mastered his emotions. He was
not going to let Andy Foger make him angry.
"Maybe you can beat me at racing, too?" he went
on. "If you think so, bring out your Red Streak
and I'll try the Arrow against her. I beat you
twice, and I can do it again !"

This unexpected taunt disconcerted Andy. It
was the truth, for, more than once had Tom, in
his motor-boat, proved more than a match for the
squint-eyed bully and his cronies.

10 TOM SWIFT 'AND 'HIS 'AIRSHIP

"Go back at him, Andy," advised Sam, in
low voice. "Don't take any of his guff!"

"I don't intend to," spluttered Andy. "Maybe
you did beat me in the races, because my motor
wasn't working right," he conceded, "but you
can't do it again. Anyhow, that's got nothing to
do with an airship. I'll bet you can't make one !"

"I don't bet," replied Tom calmly, "but if
you wait a few weeks you'll see me in an airship,
and then, if you want to race the Red Streak
against that, I'll accommodate you. Or, if you
want to enter into a competition to build a dirig-
ible balloon or an aeroplane I'm willing."

"Huh! Think you're smart, don't you? Just
because you helped save that balloonist from be-
ing killed when his balloon caught fire," went on
Andy, for want of something better to say. "But
you'll never build an airship!"-

"Of course he won't!" added Sam and Pete,
bound to side with their crony, to whom they were
indebted for many automobile and motor-boat
rides.

"Just wait," advised Tom, with a tantalizing
smile. "Meanwhile, if you want to try the Red
Streak against the Arrow, I'm willing. I have an
(hour or so to spare."

"Aw, keep still!" muttered Andy, much dis-
comfited, for the defeat of his speedy boat, by a

AN EXPLOSION II

much smaller and less powerful one, was a sore
point with him. "You just wait, that's all. I'll
get even with you !"

"Look here!" cried Tom, suddenly. "You al-
ways say that whenever I get the best of you.
I'm sick of hearing it. I consider that a threat,
and I don't like it. If you don't look out, Andy
Foger, you'll have trouble with me, and at no very
'distant date !"

Tom, with flashing eyes, and clenched fists, took
a step forward. Andy shrank back.

"Don't be afraid of him," advised Sam. "We'll
Itand by you, Andy."

"I ain't afraid," muttered the red-haired lad,
lut it was noticed that he shuffled off. " You just
Wait, I'll fix you," he added to Tom. The bully
Was plainly in a rage.

The young inventor was about to reply, and,
possibly would have made a more substantial re-
joinder to Andy than mere words, when the gate
opened, and Mr. Sharp stepped out.

"The fumes have all cleared away, Tom," he
said. "We can go in the shop, now."

Without further notice of Andy Foger, Tom
Swift turned aside, and followed the aeronaut
&ito the enclosed yard.

CHAPTER II

NED SEES MYSTERIOUS MEN

"WHO were those fellows ?" asked the balloon^
ist, of his companion.

"Oh, some chaps who think we'll never build
our airship, Mr. Sharp. Andy Foger, and his
crowd."

"Well, we'll show them whether we will or
not," rejoined the man. "I've just thought of one
point where we made a mistake. Your father
suggested it to me. We need a needle valve in
the gas tank. Then we can control the flow of
vapor better."

"Of course !" cried Tom. "Why didn't I think
of that ? Let's try it." And the pair hurried into
the machine shop, eager to make another test,
which they hoped would be more successful.

The young inventor, for Tom Swift was en-
titled to that title, having patented several ma-
chines, lived with his father, Barton Swift, on
the outskirts of the small town of Shopton, in

12

NED SEES MYSTERIOUS MEN 13

New York State. Mr. Swift was quite wealthy,
having amassed a considerable fortune from sev-
eral of his patents, as he was also an inventor.
Tom's mother had been dead since he was a small
child, and Mrs. Baggert kept house for the widow-
er and his son. There was also, in their house-
hold, an aged engineer, named Garret Jackson,
who attended to the engine and boilers that oper-
ated machinery and apparatus in several small
shops that surrounded the Swift homestead; for
Mr. Swift did most of his work at home.

As related in the first volume of this series, en-
titled 'Tom Swift and His Motor-Cycle," the
lad had passed through some strenuous adven-
tures. A syndicate of rich men, disappointed in
a turbine motor they had acquired from a cer-
tain inventor, hired a gang of scoundrels to get
possession of a turbine Mr. Swift had invented.
Just before they made the attempt, however, Tom
became possessed of a motor-cycle. It had be-
longed to a wealthy man, Mr. Wakefield Damon,
of Waterford, near Lake Carlopa, which body of
water adjoined the town of Shopton; but Mr.
Damon had two accidents with the machine, and
sold it to Tom cheap. Tom was riding his motor-
cycle to Albany, to deliver his father's model of
the turbine motor to a lawyer, in order to get a
patent on it, when he was attacked by the gang

14 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

of bad men. These included Ferguson Appleson,
Anson Morse, Wilson Featherton, alias Simp-
son, Jake Burke, alias Happy Harry, who some-
times masqueraded as a tramp, and Tod Boreck,
alias Murdock. These men knocked Tom uncon-
scious, stole the valuable model and some papers,
and carried the youth away in their automobile.

Later the young inventor, following a clue
given him by Eradicate Sampson, an aged colored
man, who, with his mule, Boomerang, went about
the country doing odd jobs, got on the trail of
the thieves in a deserted mansion in the woods at
the upper end of the lake. Our hero, with the
aid of Mr. Damon, and some friends of the lat-
ter, raided the old house, but the men escaped.

In the second book of the series, called "Tom
Swift and His Motor-Boat," there was related the
doings of the lad, his father and his chum, Ned
Newton, on Lake Carlopa. Tom bought at auc-
tion, a motor-boat the thieves had stolen and dam-
aged, and, fixing it up, made a speedy craft of it—
so speedy, in fact that it beat the racing-boat—
Red Streak — owned by Andy Foger. But Tom
did more than race in his boat. He took his
father on a tour for his health, and, during Mr.
Swift's absence from home, the gang of bad men
stole some of the inventor's machinery. Tom set
*>ut after them in his motor boat, but the scoun-

NED SEES MYSTERIOUS MEN 15

drels even managed to steal that, hoping to get
possession of a peculiar and mysterious treasure
in it, and Tom had considerable trouble.

Among other things he did when he haft his
craft, was to aid a Miss Mary Nestor, who, in
her cousin's small boat, the Dot, was having trou-
ble with the engine, and you shall hear more of
Miss Nestor presently, for she and Tx)m became
quite friendly. Events so shaped themselves that
Andy Foger was glad to loan Tom the Red Streak
in which to search for the stolen Arrow, and it
was in the later craft that Tom, his father and
Ned Newton had a most thrilling adventure.

They were on their way down the lake when,
in the air overhead they saw a balloon on fire,
with a man clinging to the trapeze. They man-
aged to save the fellow's life, after a strenuous
endeavor. The balloonist, John Sharp, was des-
tined to play quite a part in Tom's life.

Mr. Sharp was more than an aeronaut— he was
the inventor of an airship — that is, he had plans
drawn for the more important parts, but he had
struck a "snag of clouds/' as he expressed it, and
could not make the machine work. His falling in
witb Mr. Swift and his son seemed providential,
for Tom and his father were at once interested in
the project for navigating the upper air. They
began a study of Mr. Sharp's plans, and the bal-

16 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

loonist was now in a fair way to have the diffi-
culty solved.

His airship was, primarily an aeroplane, but
with a sustaining aluminum container, shaped like
a cigar, and filled with a secret gas, made partly
of hydrogen, being very light and powerful. It
was testing the effect of this gas on a small model
of the aluminum container that the explosion,
told of in the first chapter, occurred. In fact it
was only one of several explosions, but, as Tom
said, all the while they were eliminating certain
difficulties, until now the airship seemed almost
a finished thing. But a few more details re-
mained to be worked out, and Mr. Swift and his
son felt that they could master these.

So it was with a feeling of no little elation,
that the young inventor followed Mr. Sharp into
the shop. The balloonist, it may be explained, had
been invited to live with the Swifts pending the
completion of the airship.

"Do you think we'll get on the right track if we
put the needle valve in ?" asked Tom, as he noted
with satisfaction that the damage from the ex-
plosion was not great.

"I'm sure we will," answered the aeronaut.
"Now let's make another model container, and try
the gas again."

They set to work, with Mr. Swift helping them

NED SEES MYSTERIOUS MEN 17

occasionally, and Garret Jackson, the engineer,
lending a hand Whenever he was needed. All that
afternoon work on the airship progressed. The
joint inventors of it wanted to be sure that the
sustaining gas bag, or aluminum container, would
do its work properly, as this would hold them in
the air, and prevent accidents, in case of a stop-
page of the engine or propellers.

The aeroplane part of the airship was all but
finished, and the motor, a powerful machine, of
new design, built by Mr. Swift, was ready to b*
installed.

All that afternoon Tom, his father and Mr.
Sharp labored in the shop. As it grew dusk
there sounded from the house the ringing of a
bell.

"Supper time/' remarked Tom, laying aside a
wrench. "I wish Mrs. Baggert would wait about
an hour. I'd have this valve nearly done, then."

But the housekeeper was evidently not going
to wait, for her voice supplemented the bell.

"Supper ! Sup-per !" she called. "Come now,
Mr. Swift; Tom, Mr. Sharp! I can't wait any
longer ! The meat and potatoes will be spoiled !"

"I s'pose we'd better go in," remarked Mr.
Sharp, with something of a sigh. "We can finish
to-morrow."

The shop, where certain parts of the airshig

18 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

were being made, was doubly locked, and
son, the engineer, who was also a sort of watch-
man, was bidden to keep good guard, for the fear
of the gang of unscrupulous men, who had es-
caped from jail during a great storm, was stili in
the minds of Mr. Swift and his son.

"And give an occasional look in the shed, where
the aeroplane is," advised Mr. Sharp. "It wouldn't
take much to damage that, now."

"I'll pay particular attention to it," promised
the engineer. "Don't worry, Mr. Sharp."

After supper the three gathered around the
table on which were spread out sheets of paper,
covered with intricate figures and calculations,
which Mr. Swift and the balloonist went over
with care. Tom was examining some blue prints,
which gave a sectional view of the proposed ship,
and was making some measurements when the
bell rang, and Mrs. Baggert ushered in Ned New-
ton, the most particular chum of the young in-
ventor.

"Hello, Ned!" exclaimed Tom. "I was won-
dering what had become of you. Haven't seen
you in a dog's age."

* "That's right," admitted Ned. "We've been
working late nights at the bank. Getting ready
for the regular visit of the examiner, who usual-
ly comes along about this time. Well, how are

NEH SEES MYSTERIOUS MEN 19

things going; and how is the airship ?" for, of
course, Ned had heard of that

"Oh, pretty good. Had another explosion to-
day, I s'pose you heard."

"No, I hadn't"

"I thought everyone in town had, for Andy
Foger and his two cronies were on hand, and
they usually tell all they know."

"Oh, Andy Foger! He makes me sick! He
was scooting up the street in his auto just as I
was coming in, 'honking-honking' his horn to beat
the band ! You'd think no one ever had an auto
but him. He certainly was going fast"

"Wait until I get in our airship," predicted
Tom. "Then I'll show you what speed is!"

"Do you really think it will go fast?"

"Of course it will ! Fast enough to catch Anson
Morse and his crowd of scoundrels if we could get
on their track."

"Why, I thought they were in jail," replied
Ned, in some surprise. "Weren't they arrested
after they stole your boat?"

"Yes, and put in jail, but they managed to get
out, and now they're free to make trouble for us
again."

"Are you sure they're out of jail ?" asked Ned,
and Tom noted that his chum's face wore an odd
look.

20 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

"Sure? Of course I am. But why do you
ask?"

Ned did not answer for a moment. He glanced
at Tom's father, and the young inventor under*
stood. Mr. Swift was getting rather along in
age, and his long years of brain work had made
him nervous. He had a great fear of Morse and
his gang, for they had made much trouble for him
in the past. Tom appreciated his chum's hesitancy,
and guessed that Ned had something to say that
he did not want Mr. Swift to hear.

"Come en up to my room, Ned. I've got some-
thing I want to show you," exclaimed Tom, after
a pause.

The two lads left the room, Tom glancing
apprehensively at his father. But Mr. Swift was
so engrossed, together with the aeronaut, in mak-
ing some calculations regarding wind pressure,
that it is doubtful if either of the men were aware
that the boys had gone.

"Now what is it, Ned?" demanded our hero,
when they were safe in his apartment. "Some-
thing's up. I can tell by your manner. What
is it?"

"Maybe it's nothing at all," went on his chum.
"If I had known, though that those men had got-
ten out of jail, I would have paid more attention

NED SEES MYSTERIOUS MEN 21

to what I saw to-night, as I was leaving the bank
to come here."

"What did you see?" demanded Tom, and his
manner, which had been calm, became somewhat
excited.

"Well, you know I've been helping the paying-
teller straighten up his books," went on the
young bank employee, "and when I came out to-
night, after working for several hours, I was
glad enough to hurry away from the 'slave-den/
as I call it. I almost ran \ip the street, not looking
where I was going, when, just as I turned the
Corner, I bumped into a man."

"Nothing suspicious or wonderful in that,"
commented Tom. "I've often run into people."

"Wait," advised Ned. "To save myself from
falling I grabbed the man's arm. He did the same
to me, and there we stood, for a moment, right
under a gas lamp. I looked down at his hands,
and I saw that on the little finger of the left one
there was tattooed a blue ring, and "

"Happy Harry — the tramp!" exclaimed Tom,
now much excited. "That's where he wears a tat-
tooed ring!"

"That's what I thought you had told me,"
resumed Ned, "but I didn't pay any attention to
it at the time, as I had no idea that the men were
out of jail"

22 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

"Well, what else happened?" inquired Tom.

"Not much more. I apologized to the man,
and he to me, and we let go of each other."

"Are you sure about the ring on his finger ?n

"Positive. His hand was right in the light. But
wait, that isn't all. I hurried on, not thinking
much about it, when, I saw another man step
out of the dark shadows of Peterby's grocery,
just beyond the bank. The man must have mis*
taken me for some one else, for he spoke to me."

"What did he say?"

"He asked me a question. It was : 'Is there
any chance to-night ?'r

"What did you tell him?"

"Well, I was so surprised that I didn't know
what to say, and, before I could get my wits
together the man had seen his mistake and hur-
ried on. He joined the man I had collided with,
and the two skipped off in the darkness. But
not before a third man had come across the street,
from in front of the bank, and hurried off with
them."

"Well?" asked Tom, as his chum paused.

"I don't know what to think," resumed Ned.
"These men were certainly acting suspiciously,
and, now that you tell me the Anson Morse gang
is -not locked up — well, it makes me feel that these
men must be some of their crowd."

NED SEES MYSTERIOUS MEN 2$

"Of course they are!" declared Tom positively.
"That blue ring proves it!"

"I wouldn't go so far as to say that," declared
Ned. "The man certainly had a blue ring tattooed
on his finger — the same finger where you say
Happy Harry had his. But what would the men
be doing in this neighborhood? They certainly
have had a lesson not to meddle with any of your
things."

"No, I don't believe they are after any of dad's
inventions this time. But I tell you what I do be-
lieve."

"What?"

"Those men are planning to rob the Shopton
Bank, Ned! And I advise you to notify the of-
ficers. That Morse gang is one of the worst in
the country," and Tom, much excited, began to
pace the room, while Ned, who had not dreamed
of such an outcome to his narrative, looked
startled.

CHAPTER III

WHITEWASHED

"LET'S tell your father, Tom," suggested Ned,
after a pause. "He'll know what to do."

"No, I'd rather not," answered the young in-
ventor quickly. "Dad has had trouble enough
with these fellows, and I don't want him to worry
any more. Besides, he is working on a new inven-
tion, and if I tell him about the Happy Harry
gang it will take his attention from it"

"What invention is he planning now?"

"I don't know, but it's something important by
the way he keeps at it. He hardly spares time to
help Mr. Sharp and me on the airship. No, we'll
keep this news from dad."

"Then I'll inform the bank officials, as you
suggest. If the place was robbed they might
blame me, if they found cut I had seen the men
and failed to tell them."

"Well, that gang would only be too glad to
have the blame fall on some one else."

24

WHITEWASHED 25

Tom little knew how near the truth he had
come in his chance expression, or how soon he
himself was to fall under suspicion in connection
with this same band of bad men.

"I'll telephone to the president on my way
home," decided Ned, "and he can notify the
watchman at the bank. But do you really ex-
pect to have your airship in shape to fly soon?"

"Oh, yes. Now that we have found out our
mistake about the gas, the rest will be easy,"

"I think I'd like to take a trip in one myself
if it didn't go too high," ventured Ned.

"I'll remember that, when we have ours com*
pleted," promised his chum, "and I'll take you for
a spin."

The boys talked for perhaps an hour longer,
mostly about the airship, for it was the latest me-
chanical affair in which Tom was interested, and,
naturally, foremost in his thoughts. Then Ned
went home first, however, telephoning from Tom's
house to the bank president about having seen the
suspicious men. That official thanked his young
employee, and said he would take all necessary
precautions. The telephone message was not sent
until Mr. Swift was out of hearing, as Tom was
determined that his father should have no un-
necessary worry about the unscrupulous men. As

26 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

it was, the news that the gang was out of jail
had caused the aged inventor some alarm.

It was not without some anxiety that Tom
arose the next morning, fearing he would hear
news that the bank had been broken into, but no
such alarming report circulated in Shopton. In
fact having made some inquiries that day of Ned,
he learned that no trace had been seen of the
mysterious men. The police had been on the look-
out, but they had seen nothing of them.

"Maybe, after all, they weren't the same ones,"
suggested Ned, when he paid Tom another visit
the next night.

"Well, of course it's possible that they weren't/*
admitted the young inventor. "I'd be very glad
to think so. Even if they were, your encounter
with them may have scared them off; and that
would be a good thing."

The next two weeks were busy ones for Tom
and Mr. Sharp. Aided occasionally by Mr. Swift,
and with Garret Jackson, the engineer, to lend
a hand whenever needed, the aeronaut and the
owner of the speedy Arrow made considerable
progress on their airship.

"What is your father so busy over ?" asked Mr,
Sharp one day, when the new aluminum gas
holder was about completed.

"I don't know," answered Tom, with a some-

WHITEWASHED 2j

what puzzled air. "He doesn't seem to want to
talk about it, even to me. He says it will revolu-
tionize travel along a certain line, but whether
he is working on an airship that will rival ours,
or a new automobile, I can't make out. He'll tell
us in good time. But when do you think we will
finish the — well, I don't know what to call it — •
I mean our aeroplane?"

"Oh, in about a month now. That's so, though,
we haven't a name for it. But we'll christen it
after it's completed. Now if you'll tighten up
some of those bolts I'll get the gas generating ap-
paratus in readiness for another test."

A short description of the new airship may not
be out of place now. It was built after plans Mr.
Sharp had shown to Tom and his father soon
after the thrilling rescue of the aeronaut from the
blazing balloon over Lake Carlopa. The general
idea of the airship was that of the familiar aero-
plane, but in addition to the sustaining surfaces of
the planes, there was an aluminum, cigar-shaped
tank, holding a new and very powerful gas, which
would serve to keep the ship afloat even when not
?n motion.

Two sets of planes, one above the other, were
used, bringing the airship into the biplane class.
There were also two large propellers, one in
front and the other at the rear. These

28 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

were carefully made, of different layers of
wood "built up" as they are called, to make
them stronger. They were eight feet in diameter,
and driven by a twenty-cylinder, air-cooled, mo-
tor, whirled around at the rate of fifteen hundred
revolutions a minute. When operated at full
speed the airship was capable of making eighty
miles an hour, against a moderate wind.

But if the use of the peculiarly-shaped
planes and the gas container, with the
secret but powerful vapor in it were some-
thing new in airship construction, so was
the car in which the operator and travelers were
to live during a voyage. It was a complete
living room, with the engine and other apparatus,
including that for generating the gas, in a separ-
ate compartment, and the whole was the combined
work of Tom and Mr. Sharp. There were ac-
commodations for five persons, with sleeping
berths, a small galley or kitchen, where food could
be prepared, and several easy chairs where the
travelers could rest in comfort while skimming
along high in the air, as fast as the fastest railroad
train.

There was room enough to carry stores for a
voyage of a week or more, and enough gas could
be manufactured aboard the ship, in addition to
that taken in the aluminum case before starting,

WHITEWASHED 29

to sustain the ship for two weeks. The engine,
steering apparatus, and the gas machine were
within easy reach and control of the pilot, who
was to be stationed in a small room in the "bow"
of the ship. An electric stove served to warm
the interior of the car, and also provided means
for cooking the food.

The airship could be launched either by starting
it along the ground, on rubber-tired wheels, as is
done in the case of the ordinary aeroplane, or it
could be lifted by the gas, just as is done with a
balloon. In short there were many novel fea-
tures about the ship.

The gas test, which took place a few days later,
showed that the young inventor and Mr. Sharp
had made no mistake this time. No explosion
followed, the needle valve controlling the power-
ful vapor perfectly.

"Well," remarked Mr. Sharp, one afternoon,
"I think we shall put the ship together next
week. Tom, and have a trial flight. We shall need
a few more aluminum bolts, though, and if you
don't mind you might jump on your motor-cycle
and run to Mansburg for them. Merton's ma-
chine shop ought to have some."

Mansburg was the nearest large city to Shop-
ton, and Merton was a machimst who frequently
did work for Mr.

30 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

"All right," agreed Tom. 'Til start now. How
many will you need?"

"Oh, a couple of dozen."

Tom started off, wheeling his cycle from the
shed where it was kept. As he passed the building
where the big frame of the airship, with the
planes and aluminum bag had been assembled,
he looked in.

"We'll soon be flying through the clouds on
your back," he remarked, speaking to the ap-
paratus as if it could understand. "I guess we'll
smash some records, too, if that engine works
as well when it's installed as it does now."

Tom had purchased the bolts, and was on his
way back with them, when, as he passed through
one of the outlying streets of Mansburg, some-
thing went wrong with his motor-cycle. He got
off to adjust it, finding that it was only a trifling
matter, which he soon put right, when he was
aware of a man standing, observing him. With-
out looking up at the man's face, the young in-
ventor wac unpleasantly aware of a sharp scru-
tiny. He could hardly explain it, but it seemed as
if the man had evil intentions toward him, and
it was not altogether unexpected on Tom's part,
when, looking up, he saw staring at him, Anson
Morse, the leader of the gang of men who had
caused such trouble for him.

WHITEWASHED 31

"Oh, it's you; is it?" asked Morse, an ugly
scowl on his face. "I thought I recognized you."
He moved nearer to Tom, who straightened up,
and stood leaning on his wheel.

"Yes; it's me," admitted the lad.

"I've been looking for you," went on Morse.
"I'm not done with you yet, nor your father,
either."

"Aren't you?" asked Tom, trying to speak
coolly, though his heart was beating rather faster
than usual. Morse had spoken in a threatening
manner, and, as the youth looked up and down
the street he saw that it was deserted ; nor were
there any houses near.

"No, I'm not," 'snapped the man. "You got
me and my friends in a lot of trouble, and "

"You didn't get half what you deserved!"
burst out Tom, indignant at the thought of what
he and his father had suffered at the hands of the
gang. "You ought to be in jail now, instead of
out; and if I could see a policeman, I'd have you
arrested for threatening me ! That's against the
law!"

"Huh ! I s'pose you think you know lots about
the law," sneered Morse. "Well, I tell you one
thing; if you make any further trouble for me,
I'll "

"I'll make all the trouble I can!" cried Tom,

32 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

and he boldly faced the angry man. "I'm not
afraid of you!"

"You'd better be!" and Morse spoke in a vin-
dictive manner. "We'll get even with you yet,
Tom Swift. In fact I've a good notion now to
give you a good thrashing for what you've done."

Before Tom was aware of the man's intention,
Morse had stepped quickly into the street, where
the lad stood beside his wheel, and grasped him
by the shoulder. He gave Tom a vicious shake.

"Take your hand off me !" cried Tom, who was
hampered by having to hold up his heavy ma-
chine.

"I will when I've given you what I owe you !"
retorted the scoundrel. "I'm going to have sat-
isfaction now if I never "

At that instant there came from down the street
the sound of a rattling and bumping. Tom looked
up quickly, and saw approaching a rattletrap of
a wagon, drawn by a big, loose-jointed mule, the
large ears of which were flapping to and fro. The
animal was advancing rapidly, in response to
blows and words from the colored driver, and,
before the uplifted fist of Morse could fall on
Tom's head, the outfit was opposite them.

"Hold on dar, mistah! Hold on!" cried the
colored man in the wagon. "What are yo' doin'
to mah friend, Mistah Swift?"

WHITEWASHED 33

"None of your business !" snapped Morse. "You
drive on and let me manage this affair if you
don't want trouble ! Who are you anyhow ?"

"Why doan't yo' know me ?" asked the colored
man, at whom Tom looked gratefully. "I's Era-
dicate Sampson, an' dish yeah am mah mule,
Boomerang. Whoa, Boomerang! I reckon yo'
an* I better take a hand in dish yeah argument."

"Not unless you want trouble !" cried Morse.

"I doan't mind trouble, not in de leastest," an-
swered Eradicate cheerfully. "Me an' Boomerang
has had lots of trouble. We's used to it. No,
Mistah Man, you'd better let go ob mah friend,
Mistah Swift, if yo' doan't want trouble yo*
ownse'f."

"Drive on, and mind your business!" cried
Morse, now unreasoningly angry. "This is my
affair," and he gave Tom a shake.

Our hero was not going to submit tamely,
however. He had one hand free, and raised to
strike Morse, but the latter, letting go his hold on
the lad's shoulder, grasped with that hand, the
fist which the young inventor had raised. Then,
with his other hand, the scoundrel was about to
hit Tom.

"Break away fom him, Mistah Swift !" directed
the colored man. " Yo' can fight him, den !"

34 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

"I guess he'll have his own troubles doing that,"
sneered Morse.

"Not ef I help him," answered Eradicate
promptly, as he climbed back off the seat, into the
body of his ramshackle vehicle.

"Don't you interfere with me!" stormed the
man.

An instant later Tom broke away from his tor-
mentor, and laid his motor-cycle on the ground,
in order to have both hands free for the attack
he felt would follow.

"Ha! You think you're going to escape, do
you?" cried Morse, as he started toward Tom,
his eyes blazing. "I'll show you who you're deal-
ing with!"

"Yes, an' I reckon I'll show yo' suffin yo' ain't
lookin' fer!" suddenly cried Eradicate.

With a quick motion he picked up a pail of
white-wash from his wagon, and, with sure aim,
emptied the contents of the bucket over Morse,
who was rushing at Tom. The white fluid spread
over the man from head to foot, enveloping him
as in a white shroud, and his advance was in-
stantly checked.

"Dar ! I reckon dat's de quickest white-washm'
job I done in some time!" chuckled Eradicate,
as he grasped his long handled brush, and clamb-

WHITEWASHED 35

ered down from the wagon, ready for a renewal
of the hostilities on the part of Morse. "De
bestest white-washin' job I done in some time;
yais, sah!"

CHAPTER IV.

A TRIAL TRIP

THERE was no fear that Anson Morse would
return to the attack. Blinded by the whitewash
which ran in his eyes, but which, being slaked,
did not burn him, he grouped blindly about, paw-
ing the air with his outstretched hands.

"You wait! You wait! You'll suffer for this !"
he spluttered, as soon as he could free his mouth
from the trickling fluid. Then, wiping it from
his face, with his hands, as best he could, he shook
his fist at Tom. "I'll pay you and that black
rascal back !" he cried. "You wait !"

"I hopes yo' pays me soon," answered Eradi-
cate, t( 'case as how dat whitewash was wuff
twenty-five cents, an' I got t' go git mo' to finish
doin' a chicken coop I'm wurkin' on. Whoa, dar
Boomerang. Dere ain't goin' t' be no mo' trou-
ble I reckon."

Morse did not reply. He had been most un-
expectedly repulsed, and, with the whitewash
36

'A TRIAL TRIP 37

dripping from his garments, he turned and fair-
ly ran toward a strip of woodland that bordered
the highway at that place.

Tom approached the colored man, and held out
a welcoming hand.

"I don't know what I'd done if you hadn't
come along, Rad," the lad said. "That fellow
was desperate, and this was a lonely spot to be
attacked. Your whitewash came in mighty
handy."

"Yais, sah, Mistah Swift, dat's what it done.
I knowed I could use it on him, ef he got too
obstreperous, an' dat's what he done. But I were
goin' to fight him wif mah bresh, ef he'd made any
more trouble."

"Oh, I fancy we have seen the last of him for
some time," said Tom, but he looked worried.
It was evident that the Happy Harry gang was
still hanging around the neighborhood of Shop-
ton, and the fact that Morse was bold enough to
attack our hero in broad day-light argued that
he felt little fear of the authorities.

"Ef yo' wants t' catch him, Mistah Swift,"
went on Eradicate, "yo' kin trace him by de white-
wash what drops often him," and he pointed to
a trail of white drops which showed the path
Morse had taken.

"No, the less I have to do with him the better

38 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

I like it," answered the lad. "But I can't thank
you enough, Rad. You have helped me out of
difficulties several times now. You put me on the
trail of the men in the deserted mansion, you
warned me of the log Andy Foger placed across
the road, and now you have saved me from
Morse/'

"Oh, dat's nuffin, Mistah Swift. Yo' has suah
done lots fo' me. 'Sides, mah mule, Boomerang,
am entitled t' de most credit dish yeah time. I
were comin' down de street, on mah way t' a
whitewashin' job, when I seen yo', an yo' lickity-
split machine," for so Eradicate designated a mo-
tor-cycle. "I knowed it were yo', an' I didn't
laik de looks ob dat man. Den I see he had hold
ob you, an' I t'ought he were a burglar. So I
yelled t' Boomerang t' hurry up. Now, mostly,
when I wants Boomerang t' hurry, he goes slow,
an* when I wants him t' go slow, he runs away.
But dish yeah time he knowed he were comin'
t' help yo', an' he certainly did leg it, dat's what
he done! He run laik he were goin' home t' a
stable full ob oats, an' dat's how I got heah so
quick. Den I t'ought ob de whitewash, an' I jest
used it."

"It was the most effective weapon you could
have used," said Tom, gratefully.

"Deed no, Mistah Swift, I didn't hab no weap-

A TRIAL TRIP 39

on," spoke Eradicate earnestly. "I ain't eben got
mah razor, 'case I left it home. I didn't hab no
weapon at all. I jest used de whitewash, laik yo'

seen me."

"That's what I meant," answered Tom, trying
not to laugh at the simple negro's misunderstand-
ing. "I'm ever so much obliged to you, just the
same, and here's a half dollar to pay for the white-
wash."

"Oh, no, Mistah Swift, I doan't want t' take
it. I kin make mo' whitewash."

But Tom insisted, and picked up his machine
to sprint for home. Eradicate started to tell over
again, how he urged Boomerang on, but the lad
had no time to listen.

"But I didn't hab no weapon, Mistah Swift,
no indeedy, none at all, not even mah razor," re-
peated Eradicate. "Only de pail ob whitewash.
That is, lessen yo' calls mah bresh a weapon."

"Well, it's a sort of one," admitted Tom, with
a laugh as he started his machine. "Come around
next week, Rad. We have some dirt eradicating
for you to attend to."

"Deed an' I will, Mistah Swift. Eradicate is
mah name, an' I eradicates de dirt. But dat man
suah did look odd, wif dat pail ob whitewash all
ober him. He suah did look most extraordinarily.

40 TOM SWIFT 'AND HIS AIRSHIP

Gidap, Boomerang. See if yo' can break some
mo' speed records now."

But the mule appeared to be satisfied with what
he had done, and, as he rode off, Tom looked back
to see the colored man laboring to get the sleepy
animal started.

The lad did not tell his father of the adventure
with Morse, but he related the occurrence to Mr.
Sharp.

"I'd like to get hold of that scoundrel, and
the others in the gang!" exclaimed the balloon-
ist. "I'd take him up in the airship, and drop
him down into the lake. He's a bad man. So
are the others. Wonder what they want around
here?"

"That's what's puzzling me," admitted Tom. "I
hope dad doesn't hear about them or he will be
sure to worry; and maybe it will interfere with
his new ideas."

"He hasn't told you yet what he's engaged in
inventing; has he?"

"No, and I don't like to ask him. He said the
£>ther day, though, that it would rival our air-
ship, but in a different way."

"I wonder what he meant?"

"It's hard to say. But I don't believe he can
invent anything that will go ahead of our craft,
even if he is my own father, and the best one

A TRIAL TRIP 41

in the world," said Tom, half jokingly. "Well,
I got the bolts, now let's get to work. I'm
anxious for a trial trip."

"No more than I am. I want to see if my
ideas will work out in practice as well as they
do in theory."

For a week or more Tom and Mr. Sharp la-
bored on the airship, with Mr. Jackson to help
them. The motor, with its twenty cylinders, was
installed, and the big aluminum holder fastened
to the feme of the planes. The rudders, one
to control the elevation and depression of the
craft, and the other to direct its flight to the right
or left, were attached, and the steering wheel,
as well as the levers regulating the motor were
put in place.

"About all that remains to be done now," said
the aeronaut one night, as he and Tom stood in
the big shed, looking at their creation, "is to
fit up the car, and paint the machine."

"Can't we make a trial trip before we fit up
the car ready for a long flight ?" asked the young
inventor.

"Yes, but I wouldn't like to go out without
painting the ship. Some parts of it might rust
if we get into the moist, cloudy, upper regions."

"Then let's paint it to-morrow, and, as soon
as it's dry we'll have a test."

42 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

"All right. I'll mix the paint the first thing
in the morning."

It took two days to paint the machine, for
much care had to be used, and, when it was fin-
ished Tom looked admiringly up at it.

"We ought to name it," suggested Mr. Sharp,
as he removed a bit of paint from the end of the
nose.

'To be sure," agreed Tom. "And— hold on,
I have the very name for it — Red Cloud!"

"Red Cloud?" questioned Mr. Sharp.

"Yes !" exclaimed Tom, with enthusiasm. "It's
painted red — at least the big, aluminum gas con-
tainer is — and we hope to go above the clouds
in it. Why not Red Cloud?"

"That's what it shall be!" conceded the bal-
loonist. "If I had a bottle of malted milk, or
something like that, I'd christen it."

"We ought to have a young lady to do that
part," suggested Tom. "They always have young
ladies to name ships."

"Were you thinking of any particular young
lady?" asked Mr. Sharp softly, and Tom blushed
as he replied:

"Oh no — of course that is — well — Oh, hang it,
christen it yourself, and let me alone," he finished.

"Well, in the absence of Miss Mary Nestor,
who, I think, would be the best one for the cere-

A TRIAL TRIP 43

moriy," said Mr. Sharp, with a twinkle in his
eyes, "I christen thee Red Cloud" and with that
he sprinkled some water on the pointed nose of
the red aluminum gas bag, for the aeronaut and
Tom were on a high staging, on a level with the
upper part of the airship.

"Red Cloud it is !" cried Tom, enthusiastically.
"Now, to-morrow we'll see what it can do."

The day of the test proved all that could be
desired in the way of weather. The fact that an
airship was being constructed in the Swift shops
had been kept as secret as possible, but of course
many in Shopton knew of it, for Andy Foger had
spread the tidings.

"I hope we won't have a crowd around to see
us go up," said Tom, as he and Mr. Sharp went
to the shed to get the Red Cloud in readiness
for the trial. "I shouldn't want to have them
laugh at us, if we fail to rise."

"Don't worry. We'll go up all right," de-
clared Mr. Sharp. "The only thing I'm at all
worried about is our speed. I want to go fast, but
we may not be able to until our motor gets
'tuned-up.' But we'll rise."

The gas machine had already been started, and
the vapor was hissing inside the big aluminum
holder. It was decided to try to go up under
the lifting power of th£ gas, and not use the aero-

44 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

plane feature for sending aloft the ship, as there
was hardly room, around the shops, for a good
start.

When enough of the vapor had been generated
to make the airship buoyant, the big doors of the
shed were opened, and Tom and Mr. Sharp, with
the aid of Garret and Mr. Swift, shoved it slowly
out.

"There it is ! There she comes !" cried several
voices outside the high fence that surrounded the
Swift property. "They're going up !"

"Andy Foger is in that bunch," remarked Tom
with a grim smile. "I hope we don't fail."

"We won't. Don't worry," advised Mr. Sharp.

The shouts outside the fence increased. It was
evident that quite a crowd of boys, as well as
men, had collected, though it was early in the
morning. Somehow, news of the test had leaked
out.

The ship continued to get lighter and lighter
as more gas was generated. It was held down
by ropes, fastened to stakes driven in the ground.
Mr. Sharp entered the big car that was suspended
below the aeroplanes.

"Come on, Tom," the aeronaut called. "We're
almost ready to fly. Will you come too, Mr.
Swift, and Garret?"

"Some other time," promised the aged inven-

A TRIAL TRIP 45

tor. "It looks as though you were going to suc-
ceed, though. I'll wait, however, until after the
test before I venture."

"How about you, Garret?" asked Tom of the
engineer, as the young inventor climbed into the
car.

"The ground is good enough for me," was
the answer, with a smile. "Broken bones don't
mend so easily when you're past sixty-five."

"But we're not going to fall!" declared Mr.
Sharp. "All ready, Tom. Cast off! Here we
go!"

The restraining ropes were quickly cast aside.
Slowly at first, and then with a rush, as though
feeling more and more sure of herself, the Red
Cloud arose in the air like a gigantic bird of
scarlet plumage. Up and up it went, higher than
the house, higher than the big shed where it had
been built, higher, higher, higher!

"There she is!" cried the shrill voices of the
boys in the meadow, and the hoarser tones of the
men mingled with them.

"Hurrah !" called Tom softly to the balloonist.
"We're off !" and he waved his hand to his father
and Garret.

"I told you so," spoke Mr. Sharp confidently.
"I'm going to start the propellers in a minute."

"Oh, dear me, goodness sakes alive!" cried

46 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

Mrs. Baggert, the housekeeper, running from the
house and wringing her hands. "I'm sure they'll
fall!"

She looked up apprehensively, but Tom only
waved his hand to her, and threw her a kiss.
Clearly he had no fears, though it was the first
time he had ever been in an airship. Mr. Sharp
was as calm and collected as an ocean captain
making his hundredth trip across the Atlantic.

"Throw on the main switch," he called to our
hero, and Tom, moving to amidships in the car,
did as directed. Mr. Sharp pulled several levers,
adjusted some valves, and then, with a rattle and
bang, the huge, twenty-cylinder motor started.

Waiting a moment to see that it was running
smoothly, Mr. Sharp grasped the steering wheel.
Then, with a quick motion he threw the two pro-
pellers in gear. They began to whirl around
rapidly.

"Here we go!" cried Tom, and, sure enough,
the Red Cloud, now five hundred feet in the air,
shot forward, like a boat on the water, only with
such a smooth, gliding, easy motion, that it seemed
like being borne along on a cloud.

"She works! She works 1" cried the balloon-
ist. "Now to try our elevation rudder," and,
as the Red Cloud gathered speed, he tilted the
small planes which sent the craft up or down, ac-

A TRIAL TRIP 47

cording to the manner in which they were tilted.
The next instant the airship was pointed at an
angle toward the clouds, and shooting along at
swift speed, while, from below came the admiring
cheers of the crowd of boys and men.

CHAPTER V

COLLIDING WITH A TOWER

"SHE seems to work," observed Tom, looking
from where he was stationed near some electrical
switches, toward Mr. Sharp.

"Of course she does," replied the aeronaut. "I
knew it would, but I wasn't so sure that it would
scoot along in this fashion. We're making pretty
good speed, but we'll do better when the motor
gets to running smoother."

"How high up are we?" asked Tom.

The balloonist glanced at several gauges near
the steering wheel.

"A little short of three thousand feet," he an-
swered. "Do you want to go higher?"

"No — no — I — I guess not," was Tom's answer.
He halted over the works, and his breath came in
gasps.

"Don't get alarmed," called Mr. Sharp quickly,
noting that his companion was in distress because
of the high altitude. "That always happens to

48

COLLIDING WITH A TOWER 49

persons who go into a thin air for the first time ;
just as if you had climbed a high mountain.
Breathe as slowly as you can, and swallow fre-
quently. That will relieve the pressure on your
ear drums. I'll send the ship lower."

Tom did as he was advised, and the aeronaut,
deflecting the rudder, sent the Red Cloud on a
downward slant. Tom at once felt relieved, both
because the action of swallowing equalized the
pressure on the ear drums, and because the air-
ship was soon in a more dense atmosphere, more
like that of the earth.

"How are you now?" asked the man of the
lad, as the craft was again on an even keel.

"All right," replied Tom, briskly. "I didn't
know what ailed me at first."

"I was troubled the same way when I first
went up in a balloon," commented Mr. Sharp.
"We'll run along for a few miles, at an elevation
of about five hundred feet, and then we'll go to
within a hundred feet of the earth, and see how
the Red Cloud behaves under different conditions.
Take a look below and see what you think of it."

Tom looked low, through one of several plate-
glass windows in the floor of the car. He gave
a gasp of astonishment.

, "Why! We're right over Lake Carlopa!" he
gasped.

50 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

"Of course," admitted Mr. Sharp with a laugh.
"And I'm glad to say that we're better off than
when I was last in the air over this same body of
water," and he could scarcely repress a shudder
as he thought of his perilous position in the blaz-
ing balloon, as related in detail in "Tom Swift
and His Motor-Boat."

The lake was spread out below the navigators
of the air like some mirror of silver in a setting
of green fields. Tom could see a winding river,
that flowed into the lake, and he noted towns,
villages, and even distant cities, interspersed here
and there with broad farms or patches of wood-
lands, like a bird's-eye view of a stretch of coun-
try.

"This is great !" he exclaimed, with enthusiasm.
"I wouldn't miss this for the world!"

"Oh, you haven't begun to see things yet," re-
plied Mr. Sharp. "Wait until we take a long trip,
which we'll do soon, as this ship is behaving much
better than I dared to hope. Well, we're five
hundred feet high now, and I'll run along at that
elevation for a while."

Objects on the earth became more distinct now,
and Tom could observe excited throngs running
along and pointing upward. They were several
miles from Shopton, and the machinery was run-

COLLIDING WITH A TOWER 51

ning smoothly ; the motor, with its many cylinders
purring like a big cat.

"We could have lunch, if we'd brought along
anything to eat," observed Tom.

"Yes," assented his companion. "But I think
we'll go back now. Your father may be anxious.
Just come here, Tom, and I'll show you how to
steer. I'm going down a short distance. "

He depressed the rudder, and the Red Cloud
shot earthward. Then, as the airship was turned
about, the young inventor was allowed to try his
hand at managing it. He said, afterward, that
it was like guiding a fleecy cloud.

"Point her straight for Shopton," counseled
Mr. Sharp, when he had explained the various
wheels and levers to the lad.

"Straight she is," answered the lad, imitating
a sailor's reply. "Oh, but this is great ! It beats
even my motor-boat !"

"It goes considerably faster, at all events," re-
marked Mr. Sharp. "Keep her steady now, while
I take a look at the engine. I want to be sure
it doesn't run hot."

He went aft, where all the machinery in the
car was located, and Tom was left alone in the
small pilot house. He felt a thrill as he looked
down at the earth beneath him, and saw the
crowds of wonder-gazers pointing at the great,

52 TOM SWIFT "AND HIS AIRSHIP

red airship flying high over their heads. Rapidly
the open fields slipped along, giving place to a
large city.

"Rocksmond," murmured Tom, as he noted it.
"We're about fifty miles from home, but we'll soon
be back in the shed at this rate. We certainly are
slipping along. A hundred and fifty feet eleva-
tion," he went on, as he looked at a gauge. I
wonder if I'll ever get used to going several miles
up in the air?"

He shifted the rudder a bit, to go to the left.
The Red Cloud obeyed promptly, but, the next
instant something snapped. Tom, with a startled
air, looked around. He could see nothing wrong,
but a moment later, the airship dipped suddenly
toward the earth. Then it seemed to increase its
forward speed, and, a few seconds later, was rush-
ing straight at a tall, ornamental tower that rose
from one corner of a large building.

"Mr. Sharp! Mr. Sharp!" cried the lad.
"Something has happened! We're heading for
that tower!"

"Steer to one side !" called the balloonist.

Tom tried, but found that the helm had be-
come jammed. The horizontal rudder would not
work, and the craft was rushing nearer and near-
er, every minute, to the pile of brick and mortar.

COLLIDING WITH A TOWER 53 '

"We're going to have a collision!" shouted
Tom. "Better shut off the power!"

The two propellers were whirling around so
swiftly that they looked like blurs of light. Mr.
Sharp came rushing forward, and Tom relin-
quished the steering wheel to him. In vain did
the aeronaut try to change the course of the air-
ship. Then, with a shout to Tom to disconnect the
electric switch, the man turned off the power from
the motor.

But it was too late. Straight at the tower
rushed the Red Cloud, and, a moment later had
hit it a glancing blow, smashing the forward pro-
peller, and breaking off both blades. The nose
of the aluminum gas container knocked off a few
bricks from the tower, and then, the ship losing
way, slowly settled to the flat roof of the building.

"We're smashed !" cried Tom, with something
like despair in his voice.

"That's nothing! Don't worry! It might be
worse! Not the first time I've had an accident.
It's only one propeller, and I can easily make an-
other," said Mr. Sharp, in his quick, jerky sen-
tences. He had allowed some of the gas to escape
from the container, making the ship less buoyant,
so that it remained on the roof.

The aeronaut and Tom looked from the win-
dows of the car, to note if any further damage

54 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

had been done. They were just congratulating
themselves that the rudder marked the extent,
when, from a scuttle in the roof there came a
procession of young ladies, led by an elderly ma-
tron, wearing spectacles and having a very deter-
mined, bristling air.

"Well, I must say, this is a very unceremoni-
ous proceeding !" exclaimed the spectacled woman.
"Pray, gentlemen, to what are we indebted for
this honor?"

"It was an accident, ma'am," replied Mr.
Sharp, removing his hat, and bowing. A mere
accident!"

"Humph! I suppose it was an accident that
the tower of this building was damaged, if not
absolutely loosened at the foundations. You will
have to pay the damages!" Then turning, and
seeing about two score of young ladies behind her
on the flat roof, each young lady eying with as-
tonishment, not unmixed with admiration, the
airship, the elderly one added : "Pupils ! To your
rooms at once ! How dare you leave without per-
mission?"

"Oh, Miss Perkman !" exclaimed a voice, at the
sound of which Tom started. "Mayn't we see
the airship? It will be useful in our natural
philosophy study !"

Tom looked at the young lady who had spoken.

COLLIDING WITH A TOWER 55

"Mary Nestor!" he exclaimed.

"Tom — I mean Mr. Swift!" she rejoined.
"How in the world did you get here?"

"I was going to ask you the same question,"
retorted the lad. "We flew here."

"Young ladies ! Silence !" cried Miss Perk-
man, who was evidently the principal of the
school. "The idea of any one of you daring to
speak to these — these persons — without my per-
mission, and without an introduction! I shall
make them pay heavily for damaging my semin-
ary," she added, as she strode toward Mr. Sharp,
who, by this time, was out of the car. 'To your
rooms at once!" Miss Perkman ordered again,
but not a young lady moved. The airship was too
much of an attraction for them.

CHAPTER VI

GETTING OFF THE ROOF

few minutes Mr. Sharp was so engrossed
with looking1 underneath the craft, to ascertain in
what condition the various planes and braces were,
that he paid little attention to the old maid school
principal, after his first greeting. But Miss Perk-
man was not a person to be ignored.

"I want pay for the damage to the tower of my
school," she went on. "I could also demand dam-
ages for trespassing on my roof, but I will refrain
in this case. Young ladies, will you go to your
rooms?" she demanded.

"Oh, please, let us stay," pleaded Mary Nes-
tor, beside whom Tom now stood. "Perhaps
Professor Swift will lecture on clouds and air
currents and — and such things as that," the girl
went on slyly, smiling at the somewhat embar-
rassed lad.

"Ahem ! If there is a professor present, perhaps
it might be a good idea to absorb some knowl-

56

GETTING OFF THE ROOF 57

edge," admitted the old maid, and, unconsciously,
she smoothed her hair, and settled her gold spec-
tacles straighter on her nose. "Professor, I will
delay collecting damages on behalf of the Rocks-
-nond Young Ladies Seminary, while you deliver
a lecture on air currents," she went on, address-
ing herself to Mr. Sharp.

"Oh, I'm not a professor," he said quickly.
"I'm a professional balloonist, parachute jumper.
Give exhibitions at county fairs. Leap for life,
and all that sort of thing. I guess you mean my
friend. He's smart enough for a professor. In-
vented a lot of things. How much is the dam-
age?"

"No professor?" cried Miss Perkman indig-
nantly. "Why I understood from Miss Nestor
that she called some one professor."

"I was referring to my friend, Mr. Swift," said
Mary. "His father's a professor, anyhow, isn't
he, Tom? I mean Mr. Swift!"

"I believe he has a degree, but he never uses
it," was the lad's answer.

"Ha! Then I have been deceived! There is
no professor present !" and the old maid drew her-
self up as though desirous of punishing some
one. "Young ladies, for the last time, I order you
to your rooms," and, with a dramatic gesture she

58 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

pointed to the scuttle through which the proces-
sion had come.

"Say something, Tom — I mean Mr. Swift," ap-
pealed Mary Nestor, in a whisper, to our hero.
"Can't you give some sort of a lecture ? The girls|
are just crazy to hear about the airship, and this
ogress won't let us. Say something!"

"I — I don't know what to say," stammered
Tom.

But he was saved the necessity for just then
several women, evidently other teachers, came out
on the roof.

"Oh, an airship !" exclaimed one. "How love-
ly! We thought it was an earthquake, and we
were afraid to come up for quite a while. But
an airship! I've always wanted to see one, and
now I have an opportunity. It will be just the
thing for my physical geography and natural his-
tory class. Young ladies, attention, and I will
explain certain things to you."

"Miss Delafield, do you understand enough
about an airship to lecture on one?" asked Miss
Perkman smartly.

"Enough so that my class may benefit," an-
swered the other teacher, who was quite pretty.

"Ahem! That is sufficient, and a different
matter," conceded Miss Perkman. "Young ladies,
give your undivided attention to Miss Dela-

GETTING OFF THE ROOF 59

field, and I trust you will profit by what she tells
you. Meanwhile I wish to have some conversa-
tion concerning damages with the persons who so
unceremoniously visited us. It is a shame that
the pupils of the Rocksmond Seminary should be
disturbed at their studies. Sir, I wish to talk with
you," and the principal pointed a long, straight
finger at Mr. Sharp.

"Young ladies, attention!" called Miss Dela-
field. "You will observe the large red body at
the top, that is—"

"I'd rather have you explain it," whispered
Mary Nestor to Tom. "Come on, slip around to
the other side. May I bring a few of my friends
with me? I can't bear Miss Delafield. She
thinks she knows everything. She won't see us
if we slip around."

"I shall be delighted," replied Tom, "only I
fear I may have to help Mr. Sharp out of this
trouble." '

"Don't worry about me, Tom," said the bal-
loonist, who overheard him. "Let me do the ex-
plaining. I'm an old hand at it. Been in trouble
before. Many a time I've had to pay damages
for coming down in a farmer's corn field. I'll
attend to the lady principal, and«you can explain
things to the young ones," and, with a wink, the
jolly aeronaut stepped over to where Miss Perk-

60 TOM SWIFT AND HlS AIRSHIP

man, in spite of her prejudice against the airship,
was observing it curiously.

Glad to have the chance to talk to his young
lady friend, Tom slipped to the opposite side of
the car with her and a few of her intimate friends,
to whom she slyly beckoned. There Tom told
how the Red Cloud came to be built, and of his
first trip in the air, while, on the opposite side,
Miss Delafield lectured to the entire school on
aeronautics, as she thought she knew them.

Mr. Sharp evidently did know how to "explain"
matters to the irate principal, for, in a short
while, she was smiling. By this time Tom had
about finished his little lecture, and Miss Dela-
field was at the end of hers. The entire school
of girls was grouped about the Red Cloud,
curiously examining it, but Mary Nestor and her
friends probably learned more than any of the
others. Tom was informed that his friend had
been attending the school in Rocksmond since the
fall term opened.

"I little thought, when I found we were going
to smash into that tower, that you were below
there, studying," said the lad to the girl.

"I'm afraid I wasn't doing much studying,"
she confessed. "I had just a glimpse of the air-
ship through the window, and I was wondering
•who was 'in it, when the crash came. Miss Perk-

GETTING OFF THE ROOF 6l

man, who is nothing if not brave, at once started
for the roof, and we girls all followed her. How-
ever, are you going to get the ship down?"

"I'm afraid it is going to be quite a job," ad-
mitted Tom ruefully. "Something went wrong
with the machinery, or this never would have
happened. As soon as Mr. Sharp has settled with
your principal we'll see what we can do."

"I guess he's settled now," observed Miss Nes-
tor. "Here he comes."

The aeronaut and Miss Perkman were ap-
proaching together, and the old maid did not seem
half so angry as she had been.

"You see," Mr. Sharp was saying, "it will be a
good advertisement for your school. Think of
having the distinction of having harbored the
powerful airship, Red Cloud, on your roof."

"I never thought of it in that light," admitted
the principal. "Perhaps you are right. I shall
put it in my next catalog."

"And, as for damages to the tower, we will pay
you fifty dollars," continued the balloonist. "Do
you agree to that, Mr. Swift?" he asked Tom.
"I think your father, the professor, would call that
fair."

"Oh, as long; as this airship is partly the prop-
erty of a professor, perhaps I should only take
thirty-five dollars," put in Miss Perkman. "I

62 TOM SWIFT 'AND HIS 'AIRSHIP

am a great admirer of professors — I mean in a
strictly educational sense," she went on, as she
detected a tendency on the part of some of the
young ladies to giggle.

"No, fifty dollars will be about right," went
on Mr. Sharp, pulling out a well-filled wallet. "I
will pay you now."

"And if you will wait I will give you a re-
ceipt," continued the principal, evidently as much
appeased at the mention of a professor's title, as
she was by the money.

"We're getting off cheap," the balloonist whisp-
ered to Tom, as the head of the seminary started
down the scuttle to the class-rooms below.

"Maybe it's easier getting out of that difficulty
than it will be to get off the roof," replied the
lad.

"Don't worry. Leave that to me," the aero-
naut said. It took considerable to ruffle Mr.
Sharp.

With a receipt in full for the damage to the
tower, and expressing the hope that, some day,
in the near future, Professor Swift would do the
seminary the honor of lecturing to the young
lady pupils, Miss Perkman bade Mr. Sharp and
Tom good-by.

"Young ladies, to your rooms!" she com-
manded. "You have learned enough of airships.

GETTING OFF THE ROOF. 63

and there may be some danger getting this one off
the roof/'

"Wouldn't you like to stay and take a ride in
it?" Tom asked Miss Nestor.

"Indeed I would," she answered daringly. "It's
better than a motor-boat. May I?"

"Some day, when we get more expert in man-
aging it," he replied, as he shook hands with
her.

"Now for some hard work," went on the young
inventor to Mr. Sharp, when the roof was cleared
of the last of the teachers and pupils. But the
windows that gave a view of the airship in its
odd position on the roof were soon filled with
eager faces, while in the streets below was a
great crowd, offering all manner of suggestions.
"Oh, it's not going to be such a task," said
Mr. Sharp. "First we will repair the rudder
and the machinery, and then we'll generate some
more gas, rise and fly home."

"But the broken propeller?" objected Tom.
"We can fly with one, as well as we can witK
two, but not so swiftly. Don't worry. We'll
come out all right," and the balloonist assumed
a confident air.

It was not so difficult a problem as Tom had
imagined to put the machinery in order, a simple
break having impaired the working of the aid-

64 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

der. Then the smashed propeller was unshipped
and the gas machine started. With all the pupils
watching from windows, and a crowd observing
from the streets and surrounding country, for
word of the happening had spread, Tom and his
friend prepared to ascend.

They arose as well as they had done at the
shed at home, and in a little while, were floating
over the school. Tom fancied he could observe
a certain hand waving to him, as he peered from
the window of the car — a hand in one of the
school casements, but where there were so many
pretty girls doing the same thing, I hardly see how
Tom could pick out any certain one, though he
had extraordinarily good eyesight. However, the
airship was now afloat and, starting the motor,
Mr. Sharp found that even with one propeller the
Red Cloud did fairly well, making good speed.

"Now for home, to repair everything, and
we'll be ready for a longer trip," the aeronaut
said to the young inventor, as they turned around,
and headed off before the wind, while hundreds
below them cheered.

"We ought to carry spare propellers if we're
going to smash into school towers," remarked
iTom. "I seem to be a sort of hoodoo."

"Nonsense ! It wasn't your fault at all," com-
mented Mr. Sharp warmly. "It would have hap-

GETTING OFF THE ROOF 65

pened to me had I been steering. But we will
take an extra propeller along after this."

An hour later they arrived in front of the big
shed and the Red Cloud was safely housed. Mr.
Swift was just beginning to get anxious about
his son and his friend, and was glad to welcome
them back.

"Now for a big trip, in about a week!" ex-
claimed Mr. Sharp enthusiastically. "You'll come
with us, won't you, Mr. Swift?"

The inventor slowly shook his head.

"Not on a trip," he said. "I may go for a trial
spin with you, but I've got too important a matter
under way to venture on a long trip," and he
turned away without explaining what it was.
But Tom and Mr. Sharp were soon to learn.

CHAPTER VII

ANDY TRIES A TRICK

WITHOUT loss of time the young inventor and
the aeronaut began to repair the damage done to
the Red Cloud by colliding with the tower. The
most important part to reconstruct was the pro-
peller, and Mr. Sharp decided to make two, in-
stead of one, in order to have an extra one in
case of future accidents.

Tom's task was to arrange the mechanism
so that, hereafter, the rudder could not become
jammed, and so prevent the airship from steer-
ing properly. This the lad accomplished by a
simple but effective device which, when the bal-
loonist saw it, caused him to compliment Tom.

"That's worth patenting," he declared. "I ad-
vise you to take out papers on that."

"It seems such a simple thing/' answered the
youth. "And I don't see much use of spending
the money for a patent. Airships aren't likely to

66

ANDY TRIES A TRICK 67

be so numerous that I could make anything off
that patent."

"You take my advice," insisted Mr. Sharp.
"Airships are going to be used more in the fu-
ture than you have any idea of. You get that
device patented."

Tom did so, and, not many years afterward
he was glad that he had, as it brought him quite
an income.

It required several days' work on the Red
Cloud before it was in shape for another trial,
During the hours when he was engaged in the
big shed, helping Mr. Sharp, the young inventor
spent many minutes calling to mind the memory
of a certain fair face, and I think I need not men-
tion any names to indicate whose face it was.

"She promised to go for a ride with me," mused
the lad. "I hope she doesn't back out. But I'll
want to learn more about managing the ship be-
fore I venture with her in it. It won't do to have
any accidents then. There's Ned Newton, too.
I must take him for a skim in the clouds. Guess
I'll invite him over some afternoon, and give him
a private view of the machine, when we get it in
shape again."

About a week after the accident at the school
Mr. Sharp remarked to Tom one afternoon :

"If the weather is good to-morrow, we'll try

68 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

another flight. Do you suppose your father will
come along ?"

"I don't know," answered the lad. "He seems
much engrossed in something. It's unusual, too,
for he most generally tells me what he is engaged
upon. However, I guess he will say something
about it when he gets ready."

"Well, if he doesn't feel just like coming, don't
argue him. He might be nervous, and, while the
ship is new, I don't want any nervous passengers
aboard. I can't give them my attention and look
after the running of the machinery."

"I was going to propose bringing a friend of
mine over to see us make the trip to-morrow,"
went on the young inventor. "Ned Newton —
you know him. He'd like a ride."

"Oh, I guess Ned's all right. Let him come
along. We won't go very high to-morrow. After
a trial rise by means of the gas, I'm going to
lower the ship to the ground, and try for an ele-
vation by means of the planes. Oh, yes, bring your
friend along."

Ned Newton was delighted the next day to
receive Tom's invitation, and, though a little
dubious about trusting himself in an airship for
the first time, finally consented to go with his
chum. He got a half holiday from the bank, and,
shortly after dinner went to Tom's house.

ANDY TRIES A TRICK 69

"Come on out in the shed and take a look at
the Red Cloud'' proposed the young inventor.
"Mr. Sharp isn't quite ready to start yet, and I'll
explain some things to you."

The big shed was deserted when the lads en-
tered, and went to the loft where they were on a
level with the big, red aluminum tank. Tom
began with a description of the machinery, and
Ned followed him with interest.

"Now we'll go down into the car or cabin,"
continued the young navigator of the air, "and
I'll show you what we do when we're touring
amid the clouds."

As they started to descend the flight of steps
from the loft platform, a noise on the ground
below attracted their attention.

"Guess that's Mr. Sharp coming," said Ned.

Tom leaned over and looked down. An instant
later he grasped the arm of his chum, and mo-
tioned to him to keep silent.

"Take a look," whispered the young inventor.

"Andy Foger!" exclaimed Ned, peering over
the railing.

"Yes, and Sam Snedecker and Pete Bailey are
with him. They sneaked in when I left the door
open. Wonder what they want?"

"Up to some mischief, I'll wager," commented
Ned. "Hark! They're talking."

70 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

The two lads on the loft listened intently.
Though the cronies on the ground below them
did not speak loudly, their voices came plainly
to the listeners.

"Let' s poke a hole in their gas bag/' proposed
Sam. "That will make them think they're not so
smart as they pretend."

"Naw, we can't do that," answered Andy.

"Why not?" declared Pete.

"Because the bag's away up in the top part of
the shed, and I'm not going to climb up there."

"You're afraid," sneered Sam.

"I am not ! I'll punch your face if you say that
again! Besides the thing that holds the gas is
made of aluminum, and we can't make a hole in
it unless we take an axe, and that makes too much

noise."

"We ought to play some sort of a trick on
Tom Swift," proposed Pete. "He's too fresh!"

Tom shook his fist at the lads on the ground,
but of course they did not see him.

"I have it !" came from Andy.

"What?" demanded his two cronies.

"We'll cut some of the guy wires from the
planes and rudders. That will make the airship
collapse. They'll think the wires broke from the
strain. Take out your knives and saw away at
the wires. Hurry, too, or they may catch us."

ANDY TRIES A TRICK 71

"You're caught now," whispered Ned to Tom.
"Come on down, and give 'em a trouncing."

Tom hesitated. He looked quickly about the
loft, and then a smile replaced the frown of right-
eous anger on his face.

"I have a better way," he said.

"What is it?"

"See that pile of dirt?" and he pointed to some
refuse that had been swept up from the floor
of the loft. Ned nodded. "It consists of a lot
of shavings, sawdust and, what's more, a lot of
soot and lampblack that we used in mixing some
paint. We'll sweep the whole pile down on their
heads, and make them wish they'd stayed away
from this place."

"Good !" exclaimed Ned, chuckling. "Give me
a broom. There's another one for you."

The two lads in the loft peered down. The
red-headed, squint-eyed bully and his chums had
their knives out, and were about to cut some of
the important guy wires, when, at a signal from
Tom, Ned, with a sweep of his broom, sent a
big pile of the dirt, sawdust and lampblack down
upon the heads of the conspirators. The young
inventor did the same thing, and for an instant
the lower part of the shed looked as if a dirt-
storm had taken place there. The pile of refuse
went straight down on the heads of the trio, apd,

72 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

as they were looking up, in order to see to cut the
wires, they received considerable of it in their
faces.

In an instant the white countenances of the
lads were changed to black — as black as the
burnt-cork performers in a minstrel show. Then
came a series of howls.

"Wow! Who did that!"

"I'm blinded ! The shed is falling down !"

"Run fellows, run !" screamed Andy. "There's
been an explosion. We'll be killed!"

At that moment the big doors of the shed were
thrown open, and Mr. Sharp came in. He started
back in astonishment at the sight of the three
grotesque figures, their faces black with the soot,
and their clothes covered with sawdust and shav-
ings, rushing wildly around.

"That will teach you to come meddling around
here, Andy Foger !" cried Tom.

"I — I — you — you — Oh, wait — I — you — " splut-
tered the bully, almost speechless with rage. Sam
and Pete were wildly trying to wipe the stuff from
their faces, but only made matters worse. They
were so startled that they did not know enough
to run out of the opened doors.

"Wish we had some more stuff to put on *em,"
remarked Ned, who was holding his sides that
ached from laughter.

ANDY TRIES A TRICK 73

"I have it!" cried Tom, and he caught up a
bucket of red paint, that had been used to give
the airship its brilliant hue. Running to the end
of the loft Tom stood for an instant over the trio
of lads who were threatening and imploring by
turns.

"Here's another souvenir of your visit/'
shouted the young inventor, as he dashed the
bucket of red paint down on the conspirators.
This completed the work of the dirt and soot, and
a few seconds later, each face looking like a
stage Indian's ready for the war-path, the trio
dashed out. They shed shavings, sawdust and
lampblack at every step, and from their clothes
and hands and faces dripped the carmine paint.

"Better have your pictures taken!" cried Ned,
peering from an upper window.

"Yes, and send us one," added Tom, joining
his chum. Andy looked up at them. He dug
a mass of red paint from his left ear, removed
a mass of soot from his right cheek, and, shak-
ing his fist, which was alternately striped red
and black, cried out in a rage:

"I'll get even with you yet, Tom Swift!"

"You only got what was coming to you," re-
torted the young inventor. "The next time you
come sneaking around this airship, trying to
damage it, you'll get worse, and I'll have you

74 TOM SWIFT 'AND HIS AIRSHIP

arrested. You've had your lesson, and don't
forget it."

The red-haired bully, doubly red-haired now,
had nothing more to say. There was nothing
he could say, and, accompanied by his compan-
ions, he made a bee-line for the rear gate in the
fence, and darted across the meadow. They were
all sorry enough looking specimens, but solely
through their own fault.

CHAPTER VIII

WINNING A PRIZE

"WELL, Tom, what happened?" asked Mr.
Sharp, as he saw the trio running away. "Looks
as if you had had an exciting time here."

"No, those fellows had all the excitement,"
declared Ned. "We had the fun." And the two
lads proceeded to relate what had taken place.

"Tried to damage the airship, eh?" asked Mr.
Sharp. "I wish I'd caught them at it, the scoun-
drels! But perhaps you handled them as well
as I could have done."

"I guess so," assented Tom. "I must see if
they did cut any of the wires."

But the young inventor and his chum had
acted too quickly, and it was found that nothing
had been done to the Red Cloud.

A little later the airship was taken out of the
shed, and made ready for a trip. The gas ascen-
sion was first used, and Ned and Mr. Swift were
passengers with Tom and Mr. Sharp. The ma-

75

76 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

chine went about a thousand feet up in the air,
and then was sent in various directions, to the
no small delight of a large crowd that gathered
in the meadow back of the swift property; for it
only required the sight of the airship looming its
bulk above the fence and buildings, to attract a
throng. It is safe to say this time, however, that
Andy Foger and his cronies were not in the
audience. They were probably too busy removing
the soot and red paint.

Although it was the first time Mr. Swift had
ever been in an airship, he evinced no great as-
tonishment. In fact he seemed to be thinking
deeply, and on some subject not connected with
aeronautics. Tom noticed the abstraction of his
father, and shook his head. Clearly the aged in-
ventor was not his usual self.

As for Ned Newton his delight knew no
bounds, At first he was a bit apprehensive as the
big ship went higher and higher, and swung about,
but he soon lost his fear, and enjoyed the experi-
ence as much as did Tom. The young inventor
was busy helping Mr. Sharp manage the ma-
chinery, rudders-planes and motor.

A flight of several miles was made, and Tom
was wishing they might pay another visit to the
Rocksmond Seminary, but Mr. Sharp, after com-

WINNING A PRIZE 77

pleting several evolutions, designed to test the
steering qualities of the craft, put back home

"We'll land in the meadow and try rising by
the planes alone," he said. In this evolution it
was deemed best for Mr. Swift and Ned to alight,
as there was no telling just how the craft would
behave. Tom's father was very willing to get
out, but Ned would have remained in, only for
the desire of his friend.

With the two propellers whirring at a tre-
mendous speed, and all the gas out of the alum-
inum container, the Red Cloud shot forward, run-
ning over the level ground of the meadow, where
a starting course had been laid out.

"Clear the track !" cried Mr. Sharp, as he saw
the crowd closing up in front of him. The men,
boys, several girls and women made a living lane.
Through this shot the craft, and then, when suffi-
cient momentum had been obtained, Tom, at a
command from the aeronaut, pulled the lever of
the elevation rudder. Up into the air shot the
nose of the Red Cloud as the wind struck the
slanting surface of the planes, and, a moment
later it was sailing high above the heads of the
throng.

"That's the stuff !" cried Mr. Sharp. "It works
as well that way as it does with the gas!"

Higher and higher it went, and then, coming

78 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

to a level keel, the craft was sent here and there,
darting about like a bird, and going about in
huge circles.

"Start the gas machine, and we'll come to rest
in the air," said the balloonist, and Tom did so.
As the powerful vapor filled the container the
ship acquired a bouyancy, and there was no need
of going at high speed in order to sustain it. The
propellers were stopped, and the Red Cloud
floated two thousand feet in the air, only a little
distance below some fleecy, white masses from
which she took her name. The demonstration
was a great success. The gas was again allowed
to escape, the propellers set in motion, and pure-*
ly as an aeroplane, the ship was again sent for-
ward. By means of the planes and rudders a per-
fect landing was made in the meadow, a short
distance from where the start had been made. The
crowd cheered the plucky youth and Mr. Sharp.

"Now I'm ready to go on a long trip any time
you are, Tom," said the aeronaut that night.

"We'll fit up the car and get ready," agreed
the youth. "How about you, dad?"

"Me? Oh, well — er — that is, you see; well,
I'll think about it," and Mr. Swift went to his
own room, carrying with him a package of papers,
containing intricate calculations.

WINNING A PRIZE 79

Tom shook his head, but said nothing. He
could not understand his father's conduct.

Work was started the next day on fitting up the
car, or cabin, of the airship, so that several per-
sons could live, eat and sleep in it for two weeks,
if necessary. The third day after this task had
been commenced the mail brought an unusual
communication to Tom and Mr. Sharp. It was
from an aero club of Blakeville, a city distant
about a hundred miles, and stated that a compe-
tition for aeroplanes and dirigible balloons was
to be held in the course of two weeks. The af-
fair was designed to further interest in the sport,
and also to demonstrate what progress had been
made in the art of conquering the air. Prizes were
to be given, and the inventors of the Red Cloud,
the achievements of which the committee of ar-
rangements had heard, were invited to compete.

"Shall we go in for it, Tom?" asked the bal-
loonist.

"I'm willing if you are."

"Then let's do it. We'll see how our craft shows
up alongside of others. I know something of
this club. It is all right, but the carnival is
likely to be a small one. Once I gave a balloon
exhibition for them. The managers are all right
Well, we'll have a try at it. Won't do us any
harm to win a prize. Then for a long trip!"

80 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

As it was not necessary to have the car, or
cabin, completely fitted up in order to compete for
the prize, work in that direction was suspended
for the time being, and more attention was paid
to the engine, the planes and rudders. Some
changes were made and, a week later the Red
Cloud departed for Blakeville. As the rules of
the contest required three passengers, Ned Newton
was taken along, Mr. Swift having arranged with
the bank president so that the lad could have a
few days off.

The Red Cloud arrived at the carnival grounds
in the evening, having been delayed on the trip
by a broken cog wheel, which was mended in
mid-air. As the three navigators approached, they
saw a small machine flying around the grounds.

"Look!" cried Ned excitedly. "What a small
airship."

"That's a monoplane/' declared Tom, who was
getting to be quite an expert.

"Yes, the same kind that was used to cross
the English Channel," interjected Mr. Sharp.
"They're too uncertain for my purposes, though
they are all right under certain conditions."

Hardly had he spoken than a puff of wind
caused the daring manipulator of the monoplane
to swerve to one side. He had to make a quick

WINNING A PRIZE 8l

descent — so rapid was it, in fact, that the tips
of one of his planes was smashed.

"It'll take him a day to repair that," com-
mented the aeronaut dryly.

The Red Cloud created a sensation as she slow-
ly settled down in front of the big tent assigned to
her. Tom's craft was easily the best one at the
carnival, so far, though the managers said other
machines were on the way.

The exhibition opened the next day, but no
flights were to be attempted until the day follow-
ing. Two more crafts arrived, a large triplane,
and a dirigible balloon. There were many visi-
tors to the ground, and Tom, Ned and Mr. Sharp
were kept busy answering questions put by those
who crowded into their tent. Toward the close
of the day a fussy little Frenchman entered, and,
making his way to where Tom stood, asked :

"Air you ze ownair of zis machine?"

"One of them," replied the lad.

"Ha ! Sacre ! Zen I challenge you to a race. I
have a monoplane zat is ze swiftest evaire! One
thousand francs will I wager you, zat I can fly
higher and farther zan you." (

"Shall we take him up, Mr. Sharp?" asked
Tom.

"We'll race with him, after we get through
with the club entries," decided the aeronaut,, "but

82 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

not for money. It's against my principles, and
I don't believe your father would like it. Rac-
ing for prizes is a different thing."

"Well, we will devote ze money to charity/'
conceded the Frenchman. This was a different
matter, and one to which Mr. Sharp did not ob-
ject, so it was arranged that a trial should take
place after the regular affairs.

That night was spent in getting the Red Cloud
in shape for the contests of the next day. She was
"groomed" until every wire was taut and every
cog, lever and valve working perfectly. Ned
Newton helped all he could. So much has ap-
peared in the newspapers of the races at Blake-
ville that I will not devote much space here to
them. Suffice it to say that the Red Cloud easily
distanced the big dirigible from which much was
expected. It was a closer contest with the large
triplane, but Tom's airship won, and was given
the prize, a fine silver cup.

As the carnival was a small one, no other
craft in a class with the Red Cloud had been en-
tered, so Tom and Mr. Sharp had to be con-
tent with the one race they won. There were
other contests among monoplanes and biplanes,
and the little Frenchman won two races.

"Now for ze affaire wis ze monstaire balloon
of ze rouge color !" he cried, as he alighted from

WINNING A PRIZE 83

his monoplane while an assistant filled the gas-
olene tank. "I will in circles go around you,
up and down, zis side zen ze ozzer, and presto!
I am back at ze starting place, before you have
begun. Zen charity shall be ze richair !"

"All right, wait and see/' said Tom, easily.
But, though he showed much confidence he asked
Mr. Sharp in private, just before the impromptu
contest: "Do you think we can beat him?"

"Well," said the aeronaut, shrugging his
shoulders, "you can't tell much about the air.
His machine certainly goes very fast, but too
much wind will be the undoing of him, while it
will only help us. And I think," he added, "that
we're going to get a breeze."

It was arranged that the Red Cloud would
start from the ground, without the use of the
gas, so as to make the machines more even. At
the signal off they started, the motors making a
great racket. The monoplane with the little
Frenchman in the seat got up first

"Ah, ha!" he cried gaily, "I leave you in ze
rear! Catch me if you can!"

"Don't let him beat us," implored Ned.

"Can't you speed her up any more?" inquired
Tom of Mr. Sharp.

The aeronaut nodded grimly, and turned more
gasolene into the twenty-cylindered engine. Like

84 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

a flash the Red Cloud darted forward. But the
Frenchman also increased his speed and did, ac-
tually, at first, circle around the bigger machine,
for his affair was much lighter. But when he
tried to repeat that feat he found that he was
being left behind.

"That's the stuff! We're winning!" yelled Tom,
Ned joining in the shout.

Then came a puff of wind. The monoplane
had to descend, for it was in danger of turning
turtle. Still the navigator was not going to give
up. He flew along at a lower level. Then Mr.
Sharp opened up the Red Cloud's engine at full
speed, and it was the big machine which now
sailed around the other.

"I protest! I protest!" cried the Frenchman,
above the explosions of his motor. "Ze wind is
too strong for me!"

Mr. Sharp said nothing, but, with a queer
smile on his face he sent the airship down to-
ward the earth. A moment later he was directly
under the monoplane. Then, quickly rising, he
fairly caught the Frenchman's machine on top
of a square platform of the gas container, the
bicycle wheels of the monoplane resting on the
flat surface. And, so swiftly did the Red Cloud
fly along that it carried the monoplane with it,
to the chagrin of the French navigator.

WINNING A PRIZE 85

"A trick! A trick!" he cried. "Eet is not
fair!"

Then, dropping- down, Mr. Sharp allowed the
monoplane to proceed under its own power, while
he raced on to the finish mark, winning, of course,
by a large margin.

"Ha! A trick! I race you to-morrow and
again to-morrow!" cried the beaten Frenchman
as he alighted.

"No, thanks," answered Tom. "We've had
enough. I guess charity will be satisfied."

The little Frenchman was a good loser, and paid
over the money, which was given to the Blake-
ville Hospital, the institution receiving it gladly.

At the request of the carnival committee, Mr.
Sharp and Tom gave an exhibition of high and
long flights the next day, and created no little
astonishment by their daring feats.

"Well, I think we have reason to be proud of
our ship," remarked Mr. Sharp that night. "We
won the first contest we were ever in, and beat
that speedy monoplane, which was no small thing
to do, as they are very fast."

"But wait until we go on our trip," added Tom,
as he looked at the cup they had won. He little
realized what danger they were to meet with in
the flight that was before them.

CHAPTER IX

THE RUNAWAY AUTO

HAD the inventors of the Red Cloud desired,
they could have made considerable money by
giving further exhibitions at the Blakeville Aero
Carnival, and at others which were to be held
in the near future at adjoining cities. The fame
of the new machine had spread, and there were
many invitations to compete for prizes.

But Tom and Mr. Sharp wished to try their
skill in a long flight, and at the close of the
Blakeville exhibition they started for Shopton,
arriving there without mishap, though Tom more
than half hoped that they might happen to strike
the tower of a certain school. I needn't specify
where.

. The first thing to be done was to complete the
fitting-up of the car, or cabin. No berths had,
as yet, been put in, and these were first installed
after the Red Cloud was in her shed. Then an
electrical heating and cooking apparatus was fitted

86

THE RUNAWAY AUTO 87

in; some additional machinery, tanks for carry*
ing water, and chemicals for making the gas,
boxes of provisions, various measuring instru-
ments and other supplies were put in the proper
places, until the cabin was filled almost to its ca-
pacity. Of course particular attention had been
paid to the ship proper, and every portion was
gone over until Mr. Sharp was sure it was in
shape for a long flight.

"Now the question is," he said to Tom one
evening, "who shall we take with us ? You and I
Aall go, of course, but I'd like one more. I won-
ler if your father can't be induced to accompany
as? He seemed to like the trial trip."

"I'll ask him to-morrow," said the lad. "He's
very busy to-night. If he doesn't care about it,
maybe Garret Jackson will go."

"I'm afraid not. He's too timid."

"I'd like to take Ned Newton, but he can't
get any more time away from the bank. I guess
we'll have to depend on dad."

But, to the surprise of Tom and Mr. Sharp,
the aged inventor shook his head when the sub-
ject was broached to him next day.

"Why won't you go, dad?" asked his son.

"I'll tell you," replied Mr. Swift. "I was
keeping it a secret until I had made some advance
in what I am engaged upon. But I don't want

88 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

to go because I am on the verge of perfecting a
new apparatus for submarine boats. It will rev-
olutionize travel under the water, and I don't
want to leave home until I finish it. There is
another point to be considered. The government'
has offered a prize for an under-water boat of a
new type, and I wish to try for it."

"So that's what you've been working on, eh,
dad?" asked his son.

"That's it, and, much as I should like to ac-
company you, I don't feel free to go. My mind
would be distracted, and I need to concentrate my-
self on this invention. It will produce the most
wonderful results, I'm sure. Besides, the govern-
ment prize is no small one. It is fifty thousand
dollars for a successful boat."

Mr. Swift told something more about his sub-
marine, but, as I expect to treat of that in an-
other book, I will not dwell on it here, as I know
you are anxious to learn what happened on the
trip of the Red Cloud.

"Well," remarked Mr. Sharp, somewhat du-
biously, "I wonder who we can get to go? We
need someone besides you and I, Tom."

"I s'pose I could get Eradicate Sampson, and
his mule Boomerange," replied the lad with a
smile. "Yet I don't know—"

At that instant there was a tremendous racket

THE RUNAWAY AUTO 89

outside. The loud puffing of an automobile could
be heard, but mingled with it was the crash of
wood, and then the whole house seemed jarred
and shaken.

"Is it an earthquake ?" exclaimed Mr. Swift,
springing to his feet, and rushing to the library
windows.

"Something's happened !" cried Tom.

"Maybe an explosion of the airship gas!"
yelled Mr. Sharp, making ready to run to the
balloon shed. But there was no need. The crash-
ing of wood ceased, and, above the puffing of
an auto could be heard a voice exclaiming:

"Bless my very existence! Bless my cats and
dogs ! Good gracious ! But I never meant to do
this!"

Tom, his father and Mr. Sharp rushed to the
long, low windows that opened on the veranda.
There, on the porch, which it had mounted by
way of the steps, tearing away part of the rail-
ing, was a large touring car; and, sitting at the
steering wheel, in a dazed sort of manner, was
Mr. Wakefield Damon.

"Bless my shirt studs!" he went on feebly.
"But I have done it now !"

"What's the matter?" cried Tom, hastening up
to him. "What happened? Are you hurt?"

"Hurt ? Not a bit of it ! Bless my moonstone!

90 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP »

It's the most lucky escape I ever had! But I've
damaged your porch, and I haven't done my ma-
chine any good. Do you see anything of another
machine chasing me ?"

Tom looked puzzled, but glanced up and down
the road. Far down the highway could be dis-
cerned a cloud of dust, and, from the midst of
it came a faint "chug-chug."

"Looks like an auto down there," he said.

"Thank goodness! Bless my trousers, but I've
escaped 'em !" cried the eccentric man from whom
Tom had purchased his motor-cycle.

"Escaped who?" asked Mr. Swift.

"Those men. They were after me. But I may
as well get out and explain. Dear me ! How-
ever will I ever get my car off your porch?" and
Mr. Damon seemed quite distressed.

"Never mind," answered Tom. "We can man*
age that. Tell us what happened."

"Exactly," replied Mr. Damon, growing calm-
er, "Bless my shoe buttons, but I had a fright —
two of them, in fact.

"You see," he went on, "I was out partly on
pleasure and partly on business. The pleasure
consisted in riding in my auto, which my physi-
cian recommended for my health. The busi-
ness consisted in bringing to the Shopton Bank a
large amount of cash. Well, I deposited it all

THE RUNAWAY AUTO 91

right, but, as I came out I saw some men hang-
ing around. I didn't like their looks, and I saw
them eyeing me rather sharply. I thought I had
seen them before and, sure enough I had. Two
of the men belonged to that Happy Harry gang.
I "

Tom made a quick motion of a caution, pointing
to his father, but it was not necessary, as Mr.
Swift was absently-mindedly calculating on a
piece of paper he had taken from his pocket, and
had not heard what Mr. Damon said. The latter,
however, knew what Tom meant, and went on.

"Well, I didn't like the looks of these men,
and when I saw them sizing me up, evidently
thinking I had drawn money out instead of put-
ting it in, I decided to give them the slip. I got
in my auto, but I was startled to see them get
in their car. I headed for here, as I was com-
ing to pay you a visit, anyhow, and the myster-
ious men kept after me. It became a regular race.
I put on all the speed I could and headed for
your house, Tom, for I thought you would help
me. I went faster and faster, and so did they.
They were almost up to me, and I was just think*
ing of slowing dowi to turn in here, when I lost
control of my machine, and — well, I did turn in
here, but not exactly as I intended. Bless my
gaiters! I came in with rather more of a rush

92 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

than I expected. It was awful — positively awful,
I assure you. You've no idea how nervous I was.
But I escaped those scoundrels, for they rushed
on when they saw what I had done — smashed
the porch railing."

"Probably they thought you'd smash them,"
observed Torn with a laugh. "But why did they
follow you?"

"Can't imagine ! Haven't the least idea. Bless
my spark-plug, but they might have imagined I
had money. Anyhow I'm glad I escaped them!"

"It's lucky you weren't hurt," said Mr. Sharp.

"Oh, me? Bless my existence! I'm always
having narrow escapes." Mr. Damon caught sight
of the Red Cloud which was out in front of the
big shed. "Bless my heart! What's that?" he
added.

"Our new airship," answered Tom proudly.
"We are just planning a long trip in it, but we
can't find a third member of the party to go
along."

"A third member!" exclaimed Mr. Damon.
MDo you really mean it?"

"We do."

1vBless my shoe laces! Will you take me
along?"

**Do you mean that?" asked Tom in turn, fore-
seeing a way out of their difficulties.

THE RUNAWAY AUTO 93

"I certainly do," answered the eccentric man.
"I am much interested in airships, and I might as
well die up in the clouds as any other way. Cer-
tainly I prefer it to being smashed up in an auto.
Will you take me?"

"Of course!" cried Tom heartily, and Mr.
Sharp nodded an assent. Then Tom drew Mr.
Damon to one side. "We'll arrange the trip in a
few minutes," the lad said. "Tell me more about
those mysterious men, please."

CHAPTER X

A BAG OF TOOLS

WAKEFIELD DAMON glanced at Mr. Swift. The
inventor was oblivious to his surroundings, and
was busy figuring away on some paper. He seemed
even to have forgotten the presence of the ec-
centric autoist.

"I don't want father to hear about the men,"
went on Tom, in a low tone. "If he hears that
Happy Harry and his confederates are in this
vicinity, he'll worry, and that doesn't agree with
him. But are you sure the men you saw are the
same ones who stole the turbine model ?"

"Very certain," replied Mr. Damon. "I had
a good view of them as I came from the bank,
and I was surprised to see them, until I remem-
bered that they were out of jail."

"But why do you think they pursued you?"

"Bless my eyes! I can't say. Perhaps they
weren't after me at all. I rnay have imagined
it, but they certainly hurried off in their auto

94

A BAG OF TOOLS 95

as soon as I left the bank, after leaving my
money there. I'm glad I deposited it before I
saw them. I was so nervous, as it was, that I
couldn't steer straight. It's too bad, the way I've
damaged your house."

"That doesn't matter. But how about the trip
in the airship? I hope you meant it when you
said you would go."

"Of course I did. I've never traveled in the
air, but it can't be much worse than my experi-
ence with my motor-cycle and the auto. At least
I can't run up any stoop, can I?" and Mr. Dam-
on looked at Mr. Sharp.

"No," replied the aeronaut, as he scratched his
head, "I guess you'll be safe on that score. But
I hope you won't get nervous when we reach a
great height."

"Oh, no. I'll just calm myself with the re-
flection that I can't die but once," and with this
philosophical reflection Mr. Damon went back
to look at the auto, which certainly looked odd,
stuck up on the veranda.

"Well, you'd better make arrangements to go
with us then," went on Tom. "Meanwhile I'll
see to getting your car down. You'll want to send
it home, I suppose?5*

"No, not if you'll keep it for me. The fact
is that all my folks are away, and will be for

96 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP,

some time. I don't have to go home to notify
them, and it's a good thing, as my wife is very
nervous, and might object, if she heard about the
airship. I'll just stay here, if you've no objection,
until the Red Cloud sails, if sails is the proper
term."

" 'Sails' will do very well," answered Mr. Sharp.
"But, Tom, let's see if you and I can't get that
car down. Perhaps Mr. Damon would like to go
in the house and talk to your father," for Mr.
Swift had left the piazza.

The eccentric individual was glad enough not
to be on hand when his car was eased down from
the veranda and disappeared into the house. Tom
and Mr. Sharp, with the aid of Garret Jackson,
then released the auto from its position. They
had to take down the rest of the broken railing,
and their task was easy enough. The machine
was stored in a disused shed, and Mr. Damon
had no further concern until it was time to un-
dertake the trip through the air.

"It will fool those men if I mysteriously dis-
appear," he said, with a smile. "Bless my hat
band, but they'll wonder what became of me.
We'll just slip off in the Red Cloud, and they'll
never be the wiser."

"I don't know about that," commented Tom.
"I fancy they are keeping pretty close watch in

A BAG OF TOOLS 97

this vicinity, and I don't like it. I'm afraid they
are up to some mischief. I should think the
bank authorities would have them locked up on
suspicion. I think I'll telephone Ned about it."

He did so, and his chum, in turn, notified the
bank watchman. But the next day it was re-
ported that no sign of the men had been seen,
and, later it was learned that an auto, answering
the description of the one they were in, had been
seen going south, many miles from Shopton.

The work of preparing the Red Cloud for the
long trip was all but completed. It had been
placed back in the shed while a few more adjust-
ments were made to the machinery.

"Bless my eyelashes !" exclaimed Mr. Damon, a
few days before the one set for the start, "but I
haven't asked where we are bound for. Where
are we going, anyhow, Mr. Sharp ?"

"We're going to try and reach Atlanta,
Georgia," replied the balloonist. "That will make
a fairly long trip, and the winds at this season
are favorable in that direction."

"That suits me all right," declared Mr. Damon.
"I'm all ready and anxious to start."

It was decided to give the airship a few more
trials around Shopton before setting out, to see
how it behaved with the car heavier loaded than
usual. With this in view a trip was made to

98 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

Rocksmond, with Mr. Swift, Mr. Damon and
Ned, in addition to Mr. Sharp and Tom, on board.
Then, at Tom's somewhat blushing request, a
stop was made near the Seminary, and, when the
pupils came trooping out, the young inventor
asked Miss Nestor if she didn't want to take a lit-
tle flight. She consented, and with two pretty
companions climbed rather hesitatingly irtfo the
car. No great height was attained, but the girls
were fully satisfied and, after their first alarm
really enjoyed the spin in the air, with Tom
proudly presiding at the steering wheel, which
Mr. Sharp relinquished to the lad, for he un-
derstood Tom's feelings.

Three days later all was in readiness for the
trip to Atlanta. Mr. Swift was earnestly invited
to undertake it, both Tom and Mr. Sharp urging
him, but the veteran inventor said he must stay
at home, and work on his submarine plans.

The evening before the start, when the aeronaut
and Tom were giving a final inspection to the
craft in the big shed, Mr. Sharp exclaimed :

"I declare Tom, I believe you'll have to take
a run into town."

"What for?"

"Why to get that kit of special tools I ordered,
which we might need to make repairs. There are
some long-handled wrenches, some spare levers,

A BAG OF TOOLS 99

and a couple of braces and bits. Harrison, the
hardware dealer, ordered them for me from New
York, and they were to be ready this afternoon,
but I forgot them. Take an empty valise with
you, and you can carry them on your motor-
cycle. I'm sorry to have forgotten it, but — "

"That's all right, Mr. Sharp, I'd just as soon
go as not. It will make the time pass more
quickly. I'll start right off."

An hour later, having received the tools, which
made quite a bundle, the lad put them in the
valise, and started back toward home. As he
swung around the corner on which the bank was
located — the same bank in which Ned Newton
worked — one of the valves on the motor-cycle
began to leak. Tom dismounted to adjust it, and
had completed the work, being about to ride on,
when down the street came Andy Foger and Sam
Snedecker. They started at the sight of our
hero.

"There he is now!" exclaimed Sam, as if he
and the red-haired bully had been speaking of
the young inventor.

"Let's lick him!" proposed Andy. "Now's
our chance to get even for throwing that paint
and soot on us."

Tom heard their words. He was not afraid
of both the lads, for, though each one matched

100 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

him in size and strength, Tom knew they were
cowards.

"If you're looking for anything I guess I can
accommodate you/' he said, coolly.

"Come on, Andy," urged Sam. But, somehow
Andy hung back. Perhaps he didn't like the
way Tom squared off. The young inventor had
let down the rear brace of his motor-cycle, and
was not obliged to hold it, so he had both hands
free.

"We ought to lick him good and proper,"
growled the squint-eyed lad.

"Well, why don't you?" invited Tom.

He moved to one side, so as not to be hampered
by his wheel. As he did so he knocked from
the handle bars the valise of tools. They fell
with a clatter and a thud to the pavement, and
the satchel came open. It was under a gas lamp,
and the glitter of the long-handled wrenches and
other implements caught the eyes of Andy and
his crony.

"Huh! If we fought you, maybe you'd use
some of them on us," sneered Andy, glad of an
excuse not to fight.

Tom quickly picked up his valise, shutting
it, but he was aware of the close scrutiny of the
two vindictive lads.

"I don't fight with such things," he said, some-

A BAG OF TOOLS JOI

what annoyed, and he hung the tools back on the
handle bars.

"What you doing around the bank at this
hour?" asked Sam, as jf to change the subject.
"First thing you know the watchman will order
you to move on. He might think you were a
suspicious character."

"The same to you," retorted Tom, "but I'm
going to ride on now, unless you want to have
a further argument with me."

"You'd better be careful how you hang around
a bank," added Andy. "The police are on the
lookout here. There's been some mysterious men
seen about."

Tom did not care to go into that, and, seeing
that the two bullies had lost all desire to attack
him, he put up the brace and mounted his wheel.

"Good-by," he called to Andy and Sam, as
he rode off, the tools rattling and jingling in the
valise, but it was a sarcastic farewell, and the two
cronies did not reply.

"I hope I didn't damage any of the tools when
I Ir.t them fall that time," mused the young in-
ventor. "My, the way Sam and Andy stared
at them it would make it seem as if I had a lot
of weapons in the bag! They certainly took
good note of them."

The time was to come, and very shortly, when

102 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

Andy's and Sam's observation of the tools was
to prove disastrous for our hero. As Tom turned
the corner he looked back, and saw, still standing
in front of the bank, the two cronies.

CHAPTER XI

THE RED CLOUD DEPARTS

"WELL, clad. I wish you were going along with
as," said Tom to his father next morning. "You
don't know what you're going to miss. A fine
trip of several hundred miles through the air,
seeing strange sights, and experiencing new sen-
sations."

"Yes, I wisH you would reconsider your deter-
mination, and accompany us," added Mr. Damon.
"I would enjoy your company."

"There's plenty of room. We can carry six
persons with ease," said Mr. Sharp.

Mr. Swift shook his head, and smiled.

"I have too much work to do here at home,'*
he replied. "Perhaps I may astonish you with
something when you come back. I have nearly
perfected my latest invention."

There was no combating such a resolution as
this, and Tom and the others considered the decis-
ion of the aged inventor as final. The airship
103

104 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

was ready for the start, and every one had arisen
earlier than usual on this account. The bag of
tools, for which Tom had gone to town, were
put in their proper place, the last of the supplies
were taken abroad, final tests were made of the
various apparatus, the motor had been given a
trial spin, disconnected from the propellers, and
then the balloonist announced :

"Well, Tom and Mr. Damon, you had better
begin to think of starting. We've had breakfast
here, but there's no telling where we will eat
dinner."

"Bless my soul! Don't you talk that way!"
exclaimed Mr. Damon. "You make me exceed*
ingly nervous. Why shouldn't we know where
we are going to eat dinner?"

"Oh, I meant we couldn't tell over just what
part of the United States we would be when din-
ner time came," explained the aeronaut.

"Oh, that's different. Bless my pocket knife,
but I thought you meant we might be dashed to
pieces, and incapable of eating any dinner."
' "Hardly," remarked Mr. Sharp. "The Red
Cloud is not that kind of an airship, I hope. But
get aboard, if you please."

Tom and Mr. Damon entered the car. It was
resting on the ground, on the small wheels used
to start the airship when the gas inflation method

THE RED CLOUD DEPARTS 105

was not used. In this case, however, it had been
decided to rise in the air by means of the power-
ful vapor, and not to use the wings and planes
until another time. Consequently the ship was
swaying slightly, and tugging at the restraining
cables.

As Tom and Mr. Damon entered the cabin
there drove into the Swift yard a dilapidated
wagon, drawn by a bony mule, and it did not
need the addition of a colored man's voice, call-
ing: "Whoa, dar, Boomerang!" to tell Tom
that his friend Eradicate Sampson was on hand.
As for Eradicate, as soon as he saw the great
airship, which he had never before beheld fully
rigged, all ready for a flight, his eyes became
big with wonder.

"Is dat yo' flyin' machine, Mistah Swift?" he
asked.

"That's it, Rad," answered Tom. " Don't you
want to come and take a ride with us?"

"Me ? Good land a' massy ! No indeedy, Mistah
Swift," and the whitewasher, who had descended
from his wagon, edged away, as if the airship
might suddenly put out a pair of hands and grab
him. "No indeedy I doant ! I come t' do a little
whitewashin' an' when I do dat I'se gwine on
mah way. But dat's a pow'ful fine ship; it suah
am!'f

106 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

"Better come and try a flight, Rad," added Mr.
Damon. "I'll look after you."

"No, sah, an' I doan't take it kind ob yo* all
t' tempt me dat way, nuther," spoke Eradicate.
But, when he saw that the craft was stationary,
he ventured to approach closer. Gingerly he put
out one hand and touched the framework of the
wheels, just forward of the cabin. The negro
grasped the timber, and lifted it slightly. To
his astonishment the whole front of the airship
tilted up, for it was about ready to fly, and a child
might have lifted it, so buoyant was it. But Era-
dicate did not know this. Wonderingly he looked
at the great bulk of the ship, looming above him,
then he glanced at his arm. Once more, noting
that the attention of his friends was elsewhere,
he lifted the craft. Then he cried :

"Look yeah, Mistah Swift! Look yeah! No
wonder day calls me Sampson. I done lifted dis
monstrousness airship wif one hand. See, I kin
do it ! I kin do it'!"

Once more he raised the Red Cloud slightly,
and a delighted grin, not unmixed with a look of
awe, spread over his honest countenance.

"I suppose you'll give up whitewashing and
join a circus as a strong man, now," observed
Mr. Sharp, with a wink at his companions.

"Dat's what I will!" announced Eradicate

THE RED CLOUD DEPARTS 107

proudly. "I neber knowed I was dat strong, but
ob course I allers knowed I had some muscle.
Golly, I must hab growed strong ober night ! Now,
Boomerang, yo' suah has got t' look out fo' yo'
sef. No mo* ob yo' cuttin' up capers, or I'll
jest lift you up, an' sot yo' down on yo' back,
I suah will," and the negro feeling of his biceps
walked over to where the mule stood, with its
eyes closed.

"I guess you can cast off, Tom," called Mr.
Sharp, as he entered the car, having seen that
everything was all right. "We'll not go up very
far at first, until Mr. Damon gets used to the thin
air."

"Bless my soul, I believe I'm getting nervous,"
announced the eccentric man. "Bless my liver,
but I hope nothing happens.'5

"Nothing will happen," Mr. Sharp assured him.
"Just keep calm, when it feels as if the bottom
was dropping out of everything and you'll soon
get over it. Are you casting off those ropes,
Tom? Is all clear?"

"All but the bow and stern lines."

"You attend to the bow line, and I'll go to the
stern," and, going over to the gas generator, Mr.
Sharp started it so as to force more vapor into
the red aluminum container. This had the effect
of rendering the airship more bouyant, and it

108 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

tugged and strained harder than ever at the
ropes.

"Good-by, Tom," called Mr. Swift, reaching up
to shake hands with his son. "Drop me a line
when you get a chance.

"Oh, Tom, do be careful," implored Mrs. Bag-
gert, her kind face showing her anxiety. "May
I kiss you good-by?"

"Of course," answered the young inventor,
though the motherly housekeeper had not done
this since he was a little chap. She had to stand
on a soap box, which Eradicate brought in order
to reach Tom's face, and, when she had kissed
him she said :

"Oh, I'm so worried! I just know you'll be
killed, risking your lives in that terrible airship !"

"Ha! Not a very cheerful view to take,
madam," observed Mr. Damon. "Don't hold
that view, I beg of you. Bless my eyelashes, but
you'll see us coming home, covered with glory
and star dust."

"I'm sure I hope so," answered Mrs. Baggert,
laughing a little in spite of herself.

The last ropes were cast off. Good-bys were
shouted as the airship shot into the air, and Mr.
Sharp started the motor, to warm it up before
the propellers were thrown into gear. The twenty
cylinders began exploding with a terrific racket.

THE RED CLOUD DEPARTS 109

as the muffler was open, and Tom, looking down,
saw Boomerang awaken with a jump. The mule
was so frightened that he started off on a dead
run, swinging the rickety, old wagon along be-
hind him.

Eradicate Sampson, who had been feeling his
muscle since he discovered what he thought was
his marvelous strength, saw what was happening.

"Whoa, dar, Boomerang!'' he shouted. Then,
as the tailboard of the wagon swung past him,
he reached out and grabbed it. Perhaps he thought
he could bring the runaway mule up standing^
but, if he did, he was grievously disappointed.
Boomerang pulled his master along the gravel
walk, and kept running in spite of Eradicates
command to "whoa, dar!"

It might have gone hard with him, had not
Garret Jackson, the engineer, running in front of
Boomerang, caught the animal. Eradicate picked
himself up, and gazed sadly at his arms. The
navigators of the air could not hear what he said,
but what he thought was evident to them.

Then, as Mr. Sharp deadened the explosions of
the powerful motor. Tom, looking at a gauge,
noted that their height was seven hundred feet.

"High enough!" called Mr. Sharp, and it was
time, for Mr. Damon, in spite of his resolution,
was getting pale.

HO TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

The gas was shut off, the propellers thrown
into gear, and, with a rush the Red Cloud shot
toward the south, passing over the Swift home-
stead, and high above the heads of the crowd
that had gathered to witness the start. The event-
ful voyage of the air had begun.

CHAPTER XII

SOME STARTLING NEWS

''WELL, there they go," remarked Mrs. Bag-
gert to Mr. Swift, as she strained her eyes to-
ward the sky, against the blue of which the air-
ship was now only a large, black ball.

"Yes, and a fine start they made," replied the
inventor. "I almost wish I had accompanied
them, but I must not stop work on my submarine
invention."

"I do hope nothing will happen to them," went
on the housekeeper. I declare, though, I feel just
as if something was going to happen."

"Nervousness, pure nervousness," commented
Mr. Swift. "Better take a little— er— I suppose
catnip tea would be good."

"Catnip tea ! The very idea !" exclaimed Mrs.
Baggert. "That shows how much you know about
nervousness, Mr. Swift," and she seemed a little
indignant.

"Ha ! Hum ! Well, maybe catnip tea wouldn't

112

112 TOlf SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

be just the thing. But don't worry about Tom.
I'm sure he can look after himself. As for Mr.
Sharp he has made too many ascensions to run
into any unnecessary danger."

"Nervous!" went on the housekeeper, who
seemed to resent this state being applied to her.
"I'm sure I'm not half as nervous as that Mr.
Damon. He gives me the fidgets."

"Of course. Well, I must get back to my
work," said the inventor. "Ah, are you hurt,
Eradicate?" he went on, as the colored man came
back, driving Boomerang, who had been stopped
just before reaching the road

"No, Mistah Swift, I ain't exactly damaged,
but mah feelings am suah hurted."

"How's that?"

"WcD, I thought I had growed strong in de
night, when I lifted dat airship, but when I went
to stop mah mule I couldn't do it He won't
hab no respect fo' me now."

"Oh, I wouldn't let that worry me," com-
mented Mr. Swift, and he explained to Eradicate
how it was that he had so easily lifted the end of
the bouyant ship, which weighed very little when
filled with gas.

The colored man proceeded with his work of
whitewashing, the inventor was in his library,
puzzling over tables of intricate figures, and Mrs.

SOME STARTLING NEWS 113

Baggert was in the kitchen, sighing occasionally as
she thought of Tom, whom she loved almost as a
son, high in the air, when two men came up the
walk, from the street, and knocked at the side
door. Mrs. Baggert, who answered the sum-
mons, was somewhat surprised to see Chief of
Police Simonson and Constable Higby.

"They probably came to see the airship start,"
she thought, "but they're too late."

"Ah, good morning, Mrs. Baggert," greeted
the chief. "Is Mr. Swift and his son about this
morning?"

"Mr. Swift is in his library, but Tom is gone."

"He'll be back though, won't he?" asked Con-
stable Higby quickly — anxiously, Mrs. Baggert
thought.

"Oh, yes," she replied. "He and—"

"Just take us to see Mr. Swift," interrupted
the chief, with a look of caution at his aide. "We'll
explain matters to him."

Wondering what could be the mission of the
two officers, Mrs. Baggert led them to the
library.

"It's queer," she thought, "that they don't ask
something about the airship. I suppose that was
what they came for. But maybe it's about the
mysterious men who robbed Mr. Swift."

114 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

"Ah, gentlemen, what can I do for you ?" asked
the inventor, as he rose to greet the officials.

"Ahem, Mr. Swift. Ahem — er — that is — well,
the fact is, Mr. Swift," stammered the chief, "we
'have come upon a very painful errand."

"What's that ?" cried Tom's father. "I haven't
Ceen robbed again, have I ?"

"There has been a robbery committed," spoke
the constable quickly.

"But you are not the victim," interposed the
chief.

"I'm glad of that," said Mr. Swift.

"Where is your son, Tom ?" asked the head of
the Shopton police force, sharply.

"What do you want with him?" inquired the
inventor, struck by some strange tone in the
other's voice.

"Mr. Swift," went on the chief, solemnly, "I
said we came upon a very painful errand. It is
painful, as I have known Tom since he was a lit-
tle lad. But I must do my duty, no matter how
painful it is. I have a warrant for the arrest of
your son, Thomas Swift, and I have come to serve
it. I need not tell you that it is your duty to give
him up to us — the representatives of the law. I
call upon you to produce your son."

Mr. Swift staggered to his feet.

SOME STARTLING NEWS 115

"My son! You have come to arrest my son?"
hie stammered.

The chief nodded grimly.

"Upon what charge?" faltered the father.

"On a charge of breaking into the Shopton
National Bank last night, and stealing from the
vault seventy-five thousand dollars in currency!"

"Seventy-five thousand dollars! Tom accused
of robbing the bank!" faltered Mr. Swift.

"That is the charge, and we've come to arrest
him," broke in Constable Higby.

."Where is he?" added the chief.

"This charge is false! Absolutely false!"
shouted the aged inventor.

"That may be," admitted the chief shaking his
head. "But the charge has been made, and we
hold the warrant. The courts will settle it. We
must now arrest Tom. Where is he?"

"He isn't here!" cried Mr. Swift, and small
blame to him if there was a note of triumph in
his voice. "Tom sailed away not half an hour
ago in the airship Red Cloud! You can't arrest
him!"

"He's escaped !" shouted the constable. "I told
you, chief, that he was a slippery customer, and
that we'd better come before breakfast!"

"Dry up!" commanded the chief testily. "So
he's foiled us, eh ? Run away when he knew we

Il6 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

were coming? I think that looks like guilt, Mr.
Swift/'

"Never!" cried the inventor. "Tom would
never think of robbing the bank. Besides, he
has all the money he wants. The charge is pre-
posterous! I demand to be confronted with the
proof."

"You shall be," answered Chief Simonson
vindictively. "If you will come to the bank you
can see the rifled vault, and hear the testimony
of a witness who saw your son with burglar
tools in his possession last night We also have
a warrant for Mr. Wakefield Damon. Do you
know anything of him?"

"He has gone with my son in the airship. "

"Ha ! The two criminals with their booty have
escaped together!" cried the chief. "But we'll
nab them if we have to scour the whole country.
Come on, Higby ! Mr. Swift, if you'll accompany
me to the bank, I think I can give you all the
proof you want," and the officials, followed by
the amazed and grief-stricken inventor, left the
house.

CHAPTER XIII

MR. DAMON IN DANGER

THE sensations of the voyagers in the airship,
who meanwhile, were flying along over the coun-
try surrounding Shopton, were not very different
than when they had undertaken some trial flights.
In fact Mr. Damon was a little disappointed after
they had waved their farewells to Mr. Swift and
Mrs. Bagger t

"I declare I'm not at all nervous," he remarked,
as he sat in an easy chair in the enclosed car or
cabin, and looked down at the earth through the
plate-glass windows in the floor.

"I thought you'd be all right once we got
started," commented Mr. Sharp. "Do you thimc
you can stand going a trifle higher?"

"Try it," suggested the eccentric man. "Bless
my watch chain, but, as I said, I might as well die
this way as any other. Hitting a cloud-bank is
easier than trying to climb a tree on a motor-
cycle, eh, Tom?"

117

Il8 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

"Very much so, Mr. Damon/' conceded the
young inventor, with a laugh.

"Oh, we'll not attempt any cloud heights for
a day or two," went on Mr. Sharp. "I want you
to gradually get used to the rarefied atmosphere,
Mr. Damon. Tom and I are getting to be old
hands at it. But, if you think you can stand it,
I'll go up about a thousand feet higher."

"Make it two thousand, while you're at it/1
proposed the odd character. "Might as well take
a long fall as a short one."

Accordingly, the elevation rudder was used to
send the Red Cloud to a greater height while she
was still skimming along like some great bird.
Of course the desired elevation could have been
obtained by forcing more gas from the machine
into the big, red container overhead, but it was
decided to be as sparing of this vapor as possible,
since the voyagers did not want to descend to get
more material, in case they used up what they
had. It was just as easy to rise by properly
working the rudders, when the ship was in mo-
tion, and that was the method now employed.

With the great propellers, fore and aft, making
about a thousand revolutions a minute the craft
slanted up toward the sky.

The ship was not being run at top speed as Mr.
Sharp did not care to force it, and there was nc

MR. DAMON IN DANGER 119

need for haste. Long distance, rather than high
speed was being aimed at on this first important
flight.

Tom was at the steering wheel, and, with his
hand on the lever controlling the elevation rudder,
kept watch of the face of Mr. .Damon, occasion-
ally noting what height the hand on the gauge
registered. He fancied he saw the cheeks of his
friend growing pale, and, when a height of thirty-
five hundred feet was indicated, with a yank the
young inventor put the airship on a level keel.

"Are you distressed, Mr. Damon?" he asked.

"Ye — yes, I — I have — some — some difficulty in
breathing," was the answer.

Tom gave his friend the same advice the aero-
naut had given the lad on his first trip, and the
eccentric man soon felt better.

"Bless my buttons!" he ventured to explain.
"But I feel as if I had lost several pounds of
flesh, and I'm glad of it."

Mr. Sharp was busy with the motor, which
needed some slight adjustments, and Tom was in
sole charge of navigating the airship. He had
lost the nervous feeling that first possessed him,
and was becomming quite an expert at meeting
various currents of wind encountered in the upper
regions.

Below, the voyagers could see the earth spread

120 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

out like a great map. They could not tell their
exact location now, but by calculating their speed,
which was about thirty miles an hour, Tom fig-
ured out that they were above the town of Cen
treford, near where he had been attacked onci
by the model thieves.

For several hours the airship kept on her way,
maintaining a height of about a mile, for when
it was found that Mr. Damon could accommo-
date himself to thirty-five hundred feet the ele-
vation rudder was again shifted to send the craft
upward.

By using glasses the travelers could see crowds
on the earth watching their progress in the air,
and, though airships, dirigible balloons and aero-
planes are getting fairly common now, the ap-
pearance of one as novel and as large as the Red
Cloud could always be depended upon to attract
attention.

"Well, what do you say to something to eat?"
proposed Mr. Sharp, coming into the main cabin,
from the motor compartment. "It's twelve o'clock,
though we can't hear the factory whistles up
here."

"I'm ready, any time you are," called Tom,
from the pilot house. "Shall I cook grub, Mr.
Sharp?"

"No, you manage the ship, and I'll play cook.

MR. DAMON IN DANGER

We'll not get a very elaborate meal this time, as
I shall have to pay occasional visits to the motor,
which isn't running just to suit me."

The electrical stove was set going, and some
soup and beefsteak from among the stores, was
put on the fire. In spite of the fact that the
day was a warm one in October, it was quite
cool in the cabin, until the stove took off the chill.
The temperature of the upper regions was several
degrees below that of the earth. At times the ship
passed through little wisps of vapor-clouds in the
making.

"Isn't this wonderful !" exclaimed Mr. Damon,
as he sat in an easy chair, partaking of some oi
the food. 'To think that I have lived to see the
day when I can take my lunch a mile in the air,
with a craft flying along like a bird. Bless my
knife and fork but it certainly is wonderful!"

Mr. Sharp relieved Tom at the wheel, while
the young inventor ate, and then, with the air-
ship heading southwest, the speed was increased a
trifle, the balloonist desiring to see what the
motor could accomplish under a heavy load.

A drop of several hundred feet was made about
an hour later, and, as this made it warmer, Mr.
Damon, who was a great lover of fresh air, de-
cided to go out on th~ pi, it form in front of the
cabin. This platform, ard a similar one at the

122 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

rear, was railed about, to prevent accidents. A
fine view could be had from them much better
than through the floor windows of the car.

"Be careful of the propeller/' advised Tom, as
his friend went outside. "I don't believe you're
tall enough to be hit by the blades, but don't take
any chances of standing on your tiptoes."

'/Bless my pocket handkerchief, indeed I'll not,"
came the answer. "But I think I shall wrap up
my throat in the scarf I brought along. I am
subject to neuralgia, and the breeze may bring
on an attack of it."

Wrapping a long, woolen scarf about his neck,
the eccentric man ventured out on the open plat-
form. About the middle of it, but sufficiently
high to be above a person's head, was the for-
ward propeller, whirring around at swift speed.

Tom, with his eye on the various gauges and
the compass, was steering the airship. He
glanced at Mr. Damon, who appeared to be en--
joying the view from the platform. For an in-
stant the eyes of the lad were taken from the
form of his friend. He looked back suddenly,
however, his attention attracted by a smothered
cry. He was horrified by what he saw.

Mr. Damon was leaning far over the edge of
the railing, with nothing between him and the
earth a thousand feet below. He seemed to have

MR. DAMON IN DANGER 123

lost his balance and had toppled forward, being
doubled up on the iron pipe railing, his hands
hanging limply over. Then, as Tom cried to Mr.
Sharp to shut off the motor, the lad saw that
hanging to the blade of the propeller, and be-
ing whirled around in its revolutions, was a
part of Mr. Damon's red scarf.

"Hurry ! Hurry, Mr. Sharp !" yelled Tom, not
daring to let go the steering wheel, for fear the
ship would encounter a treacherous current and
tilt. "Hurry to Mr. Damon!"

"What's the matter?" asked the balloonist.

"He's dead — or unconscious — hanging over the
railing. He seems to be slipping! Hurry, or
it will be too late!"

CHAPTER XIV

ANDY GIVES THE CLUE

WHEN Mr. Swift followed the chief of policy
and the constable to the town hall his mind was
filled with many thoughts. All his plans for rev-
olutionizing submarine travel, were, of course,
forgotten, and he was only concerned with the
charge that had been made against his son. It
seemed incredible, yet the officers were not ones
to perpetrate a joke. The chief and constable
had driven from town in a carriage, and they
now invited the inventor to ride back with them.

"Do you mean to tell me a warrant has actual-
ly been sworn out against my son, Chief ?" askec
the father, when they were near the town hall.

"That's just what I mean to say, Mr. Swift,
and I'm sorry, on your account, that I have tc
serve it"

"Huh ! Don't look like you was goin* to serve
it," remarked the constable. "He's skipped out."

"That's all right, Higby," went on the chief.
124

ANDY CIVES THE CLUE 125

"I'll catch em both. Even if they have escaped
in an airship with their booty, I'll nab 'em. I'll
have a general alarm out all over the country in
less than an hour. They can't stay up in the air
forever."

"A warrant for Tom — my son," murmured Mr,
Swift, as if he could not believe it.

"Yes, and for that Damon man, too," added
the chief. "I want him as well as Tom, and I'll
get 'em."

"Would you mind letting me see the warrants ?"
asked the inventor, and the official passed them
over. The documents were made out in regular
form, and the complaints had been sworn to by
Isaac Pendergast, the bank president.

"I can't understand it," went on Tom's father.
"Seventy-five thousand dollars. It's incredible!
Why!" he suddenly exclaimed, "it can't be true,
Just before he left, Mr. Damon "

"Yes, what did he do ?" asked the chief eager-
ly, thinking he might secure some valuable evi-
dence.

"I guess I'll say nothing until I have seen the
bank president," replied Mr. Swift, and the of-
ficial was obviously disappointed.

The inventor found Mr. Pendergast, and some
other bank uncials in the town hall. The finan-
ciers were rather angry when they learned that

126 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

the accused persons had not been caught, but the
chief said he would soon have them in custody.

"In the meanwhile will you kindly explain
what this means ?" asked Mr. Swift of the presi-
dent.

"You may come and look at the looted vault,
if you like, Mr. Swift," replied Mr. Pender-
gast. "It was a very thorough job, and will se-
riously cripple the bank."

There was no doubt that the vault had been
forced open, for the locks and bars were bent
and twisted as if by heavy tools. Mr. Swift made
a careful examination, and was shown the money
drawers that had been smashed.

"This was the work of experts," he declared.

"Exactly what we think," said the president
"Of course we don't believe your son was a
professional bank robber, Mr. Swift. We have
a theory that Mr. Damon did the real work, but
that Tom helped him with the tools he had.
There is no doubt about it."

"What right have you to accuse my son ?" burst
out the aged inventor. "Why have you any
more cause to suspect him than any other lad in
town ? Why do you fix on him, and Mr. Damon ?
I demand to know."

"Mr. Damon's eccentric actions for a few days
past, and his well-known oddity of character make

'ANDY GIVES THE CLUE 127

him an object of suspicion," declared the presi-
dent in judicial tones. "As for Tom, we have,
I regret to say, even better evidence against him."

"But what is it? What? Who gave you any
clues to point to my son?"

"Do you really wish to know?"

"I certainly do," was the sharp reply. Mr.
Swift, the police and several bank officials were
now in the president's office. The latter pressed
an electric bell, and, when a messenger answered,
he said:

"Send young Foger here."

At the mention of this name, Mr. Swift started.
He well knew the red-haired bully was an enemy
of his son. Andy entered, walking rather proud-
ly at the attention he attracted.

"This is Mr. Swift," said the president.

"Aw, I know him," blurted out Andy.

"You will please tell him what you told us,"
went on Mr. Pendergast.

"Well, I seen Tom Swift hanging around this
bank with burglar tools in his possession last
night, just before it was robbed," exclaimed the
squint-eyed lad triumphantly.

"Hanging around the bank last night with bur-
gJar tools?" repeated Mr. Swift, in dazed tones.

"That's right," from Andy.

"How do you know they were burglar tools ?"

128 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

"Because I saw 'em!" cried Andy. "He had
'em in a valise on his motor-cycle. He was stand-
ing at the corner, waiting for a chance to break
into the bank, and when me and Sam Snedecker
saw him, he pretended to be fixin' his machine.
Then the bag of burglar tools fell off, the satchel
came open, and I seen 'em ! That's how I know."

"And you're sure they were burglar tools?"
asked the chief, for he depended on Andy to be
his most important witness.

"Sure I am. I seen a picture of burglar tools
once, and the ones Tom had was just like 'em.
Long-handled wrenches, brace an* bits, an* all.
He tried to hide 'em, but me an' Sam was too
quick for him. He wanted to lick me, too."

"No doubt you deserved it," murmured Mr.
Swift. "But how do you know my son was wait-
ing for a chance to break into the bank?"

" 'Cause, wasn't it robbed right after he was
hangin' around here with the burglar tools?" in-
quired Andy, as if that was unanswerable.

"What were you hanging around here for?"
Mr. Swift demanded quickly.

"Me? Oh, well, me an' Sam Snedecker was
out takin' a walk. That's all."

"You didn't want to rob the bank, did you?"
went on the inventor, keenly.

ANDY GIVES THE CLUE 129

•'Of course not/' roared the bully, indignantly.
"I ain't got no burglar tools."

Andy told more along the same line, but his
testimony of having seen Tom near the bank,
with a bag of odd tools could not be shaken. In
fact it was true, as far as it went, but, of course,
the tools were only those for the airship ; the same
ones Mr. Sharp had sent the lad after. Sam
Snedecker was called in after Andy, and told
substantially the same story.

Mr. Swift could not understand it, for he
knew nothing of Tom being sent for the tools,
and had not heard any talk at home of the bag
of implements ordered by the balloonist. Still,
of course, he knew Tom had nothing to do with
the robbery, and he knew his son had been at
home all the night previous. Still this was rather
negative evidence. But the inventor had one
question yet to ask.

"You say you also suspect Mr. Damon of com-
plicity in this affair ?" he went on, to the chief of
police.

"We sure do," replied Mr. Simonson.

"Then can you explain?" proceeded the inven-
tor, "how it is that Mr. Damon has on deposit in
this bank a large sum. Would he rob the bank
where his own funds were ?"

"We are prepared for that," declared the

130 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

president. "It is true that Mr. Damon has aEout
ten thousand dollars in our bank, but we believe
he deposited it only as a blind, so as to cover up
his tracks. It is a deep-laid scheme, and escaping
in the airship is part of it. I am sorry, Mr. Swift,
that I have to believe your son and his accom-
plice guilty, but I am obliged to. Chief, you had
better send out a general alarm. The airship
ought to be easy to trace."

"I'll telegraph at once," said the official.

"And you believe my son guilty, solely on the
testimony of these two boys, who, as is well
known, are his enemies ?" asked Mr. Swift.

"The clue they gave us is certainly most im-
portant," said the president. "Andy came to us
and told what he had seen, as soon as it became
known that the bank had been robbed."

"And I'm going to get the reward for giving
information of the robbers, too!" cried the bully.

"I'm going to have my share!" insisted Sam.

"Ah, then there is a reward offered?" inquired
Mr. Swift.

"Five thousand dollars," answered Mr. Pender-
gast. "The directors, all of whom are present
save Mr. Foger, Andy's father, met early this
morning, and decided to offer that sum."

"And I'm going to get it," announced the red-
haired lad again.

ANDY GIVES THE CLUE 131

Mr. Swift was much downcast. There seemed
to be nothing more to say, and, being a man un-
versed in the ways of the world, he did not know
what to do. He returned home. When Mrs.
Baggert was made acquainted with the news, she
waxed indignant.

"Our Tom a thief!" she cried. "Why don't
they accuse me and Mr. Jackson and you? The
idea! You ought to hire a lawyer, Mr. Swift,
and prosecute those men for slander. "

"Do you think it would be a good plan?"

"I certainly do. Why they have no evidence
at all! What does that mean, sneaking Andy
Foger amoumt to ? Get a lawyer, and have Tom's
interests looked after."

Mr. Swift, glad to have some one share the
responsibility with, felt somewhat better when
a well-known Shopton attorney assurred him that
the evidence against Tom was of such a flimsy
character that it would scarcely hold in a court of
justice.

"But they have warrants for him and Mr.
Damon," declared the inventor.

"Very true, but it is easy to swear out a war-
rant against any one. It's a different matter to
prove a person guilty."

"But they can arrest my son."

132 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

"Yes — if they catch him. However, we can
soon have him released on bail."

"It's disgraceful," said Mrs. Baggert.

"Not at all, my dear madam, not at all. Good
and innocent persons have been arrested."

"They are going to send out a general alarm
for my son/' bewailed Mr. Swift.
r- "Yes, but I fancy it will be some time before
they catch him and Mr. Damon, if the airship
holds together. I can't think of a better way to
keep out of the clutches of the police, and their
silly charge," chuckled the lawyer. "Now don't
worry, Mr. Swift. It will all come out right.

The inventor tried to believe so, but, though he
knew his son was innocent, it was rather hard to
see, within the next few days, big posters on all
the vacant walls and fences, offering a reward of
five thousand dollars for the arrest of Tom Swift
and Wakefield Damon, who were charged with
having flown away in an airship with seventy-
five thousand dollars of the bank's money.

"I guess Tom Swift will wish he'd been more
decent to me when I collect that money for his
arrest," said Andy to his crony, Sam, the day
the bills were posted.

"Yes, but I get my share, don't I ?" asked Sam*

"Sure," answered the bully. "I wish they'd
hurry up and arrest him."

ANDY GIVES THE CLUE 133

Within the next few days the country was
covered with posters telling of the robbery and
the reward, and police officials in cities large and
small, and in towns and villages, were notified
by telegraph to arrest and capture, at any cost
the occupants of a certain large, red airship.

Mr. Swift, on the advice of his lawyer, sent
several telegrams to Tom, apprising him of what
had happened. The telegraph company was asked
to rush the telegrams to the first city when word
tame in that the Red Cloud had landed.

CHAPTER XV

FIRED UPON

TOM'S excited call to the aeronaut, telling of
the mishap to Mr. Damon, was answered im-
mediately. Mr. Sharp jumped forward from the
motor compartment, and, passing on his way the
electric switch, he yanked it out, stopping the ma-
chinery, and the great propellers. Then he leaped
out on the platform.

But something else happened. Just before the
accident to the eccentric man, desiring to give a
further test to the planes, the gas had been shut
off, making the airship an aeroplane instead of a
dirigible balloon. Consequently, as soon as the
forward motion ceased the great ship began fall-
ing.

"We're sinking! We're sinking!" cried Tom,
forgetting for a moment that he was not in his
motor-boat.

"Slant your rudder up, and glide downward as
slowly as you can!" directed Mr. Sharp. "I'll
134

FIRED UPON 135

start the engine again as soon as I rescue him,"
for it was risky to venture out on the platform
with the propeller whirring, as the dangling piece
of scarf might whip around the balloonist and toss
him off.

Mr. Sharp was soon at Mr. Damon's side. He
saw that the man was unconscious, whether from
fright or some injury could not then be deter-
mined. There was, however, no sign of a wound.

It was no easy task to carry, half dragging it,
tKe heavy body of Mr. Damon off the platform,
but the aeronaut was a muscular individual, and
long hanging from a trapeze, at great heights,
stood him in good stead.

He brought the unconscious man into the cabin,
and then, quickly returning to the platform, he
detached the piece of scarf from the propeller
blade. Next he started the motor, and also turned
on the gas tank, so that the airship, in a few
minutes, could float in space without motion.

"You needn't steer now, Tom," said the bal-
loonist. "Just give me a hand here."

"Is — is he dead?" inquired the lad, his voice
faltering.

"No, his heart's beating. I can't understand
what happened."

Mr. Sharp was something of a rough and ready
surgeon and doctor, and a small box of medicines

136 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

had been brought along in case of emergencies.
With the Red Cloud now lazily floating in the
air, for, once the falling motion had been checked
by the engine, the motor had been stopped again,
Mr. Sharp set about restoring Mr. Damon to con-
sciousness.

It was not long before the man opened his
eyes. The color that had left his cheeks came
back, and, after a drink of cold water he was able
to sit up.

"Did I fall?" he asked. "Bless my very ex-
istence, but did I tumble off the airship?"

"No indeed," replied Tom, "though you came
pretty near it. How do you feel? Were you
hurt?"

"Oh, I'm all right now — just a trifle dizzy.
But I thought sure I was a goner when I fell over
the platform railing," and Mr. Damon could not
repress a shudder. Mr. Sharp administered some
more medicine and his patient was soon able to
stand, and move about.

"How did it happen?" inquired the balloonist.

"I hardly know," answered Mr. Damon. "I
was out on the platform, looking at the view, and
thinking how much better my neuralgia was, with
the scarf on. Suddenly the wind whipped loose
one end of the scarf, and, before I knew it the
cloth had caught on the propeller blade. I was

x FIRED UPON £37

blown, or drawn to one side, tossed against the
railing, which I managed to grab, and then I
lost my senses. It's a good thing I wasn't whirled
around the propeller."

"It's a good thing you weren't tossed down to
the earth," commented Tom, shivering as he
thought of his friend's narrow escape.

"I became unconscious, partly because the wind
was knocked from me as I hit the platform rail-
ing," went on Mr. Damon, "and partly from
fright, I think. But I'm all right now, and I'm
not going out on that platform again with a
loose scarf on."

"I wouldn't go out at all again, if I were you,
though, of course, I'm used to dizzy heights,"
spoke Mr. Sharp.

"Oh, I'm not so easily frightened," declared
Mr. Damon. "If I'm going to be a balloonist,
or an aeroplanist I've got to get used to certain
things. I'm all right now," and the plucky man
was, for the blow to his side did not amount to
much. It was some time, however, before Tom
got over the fright his friend had caused him.

They spent that night moving slowly south, and
in the morning found they had covered about a
hundred miles, not having run the ship to any-
thing like its maximum speed. Breakfast was
served above the clouds, for a change, Mr. Damon

138 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

finding that he could stand the great height with
comfort.

It was three days after the start, and the travel-
ers were proceeding slowly along. They were
totally unaware, of course, of the sensation which
their leaving, conjointly with the bank robbery,
had caused, not only in Shopton but in other
places.

"We're over a good-sized city," announced
Tom, on the noon of the third day. "Suppose we
drop down, and leave some message? Dad will
be anxious to hear from us."
' "Good idea," commented Mr. Sharp. "Down it
is. Shift the rudder."

Tom proceeded to do so, and, while Mr. Damon
relieved him at the wheel the young inventor pre-
pared a message to his father. It was placed in
a weighted envelope, together with a sum of
money, and the person picking it up was re-
quested to send the letter as a telegram, retain-
ing some money for his trouble.

As the ship got lower and lower over the city
the usual crowds could be seen congregating in
the streets, pointing and gazing upward.

"We're creating quite a stir," observed Tom.

"More than usual, it seems," added Mr. Sharp,
peering down. "I declare, there seems to be a po-
lice parade under way."

FIRED UPON 139

'That's right," put in Mr. Damon, for, look-
ing down, a squad of uniformed officers, some on
horseback, could be seen hurrying along the main
street, trying to keep pace with the airship, which
was moving slowly.

"They're looking at us through telescopes,"
called Tom. "Guess they never saw a balloon
down this way."

Nearer and nearer to the city dropped the Red
Cloud. Tom was about to let go the weighted
envelope, when, from the midst of the police came
several puffs of white smoke. It was followed by
vicious, zipping sounds about the cabin of the
ship, the windows of which were open Then
came the reports of several rifles.

"They're firing at us !" yelled Tom.

"So they are !" cried Mr. Sharp. "They must
be crazy ! Can't they see that we're not a bird."

"Maybe they take us for a war balloon," sug-
gested Mr. Damon.

Another volley was directed at the airship, and
several bullets struck the 6ig aluminum gas
holder glancing blows.

"Here! Quit that!" yelled Tom, leaning out
of the window. "Are you crazy? You'll dam-
age us!"

'They can't hear you," called Mr. Sharp.

A third volley was fired, and this time several

140 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

persons other than police officers seemed to be
shooting at the airship. Revolvers as well as
rifles were being used.

"We're got to get out of this!" shouted Mr.
Sharp, as a bullet sang uncomfortably close to hi3
head. "I can't imagine what's gotten into the
people. Send her up, Tom !"

The lad quickly shifted the elevation rudder,
and the Red Cloud sailed majestically aloft. The
young inventor had not dropped his message, con-
cluding that citizens who would fire on travelers of
the air for no reason, would not be likely to ac-
commodate them in the matter of sending mes-
sages.

The craft mounted rapidly upward, but before it
was beyond rifle shot another volley was fired,
one bullet sending some splinters flying from the
wooden framework.

"Whew! That was a narrow escape!" ex-
claimed Mr. Sharp. "What in the world can
those people be up to, anyhow?"

CHAPTER XVI

OVER A FIERY FURNACE

DOWN below, the aeronauts could see the crowd,
led by the police, scurrying to and fro. Many
individuals beside the officers appeared to be hold-
ing weapons, and, from the puffs of smoke that
spurted out, it was evident that more shots were
being fired. But the bullets could do no harm,
and the Red Cloud, under the force of the rapid-
ly revolving propellers, was soon beyond the cen-
ter of the city.

"Well, if that isn't the limit!" cried Tom.
"They must have taken us for a German war bal-
loon, about to drop explosives on them."

"Bless my liver !" ejaculated Mr. Damon, "I be-
lieve you're right. Eh, Mr. Sharp?"

The veteran balloonist took a careful look over
the craft before replying. Then he spoke :

"It couldn't be that," and he shook his head, as
if puzzled. "They would know no foreign air-
ship would try any trick like that. Beside, if by
141

142 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

some remote possibility they did imagine it, there
Would be soldiers shooting at us, instead of the
police. As it was, the whole population seemed
anxious to bring us down."

"And they nearly did," added Mr. Damon. "If
they had shot a few holes in the gas bag where
would we be?"

"Right in the air," answered the balloonist.
"It would take several volleys of bullets to dam-
age our aluminum container. It is in sections and
when one, or even five compartments, for that
matter, are pierced, there is enough gas in the
others to sustain us. So they could not have dam-
aged us much, even if they had shot a lot of holes
in us. Even without the gas container we can
keep afloat by constantly moving, for the planes
will serve their purpose. Of course they could
damage us, and maybe put some of our machinery
out of business, and that would be a serious
thing. But what puzzles me is why they fired at
us at all."

"It couldn't be out of pure mischief ; could it ?"
asked the young inventor.

"Hardly. If we were in a savage country I
could understand the natives firing at some such
object as this airship, but the people of that city
must have known what our craft was. They
probably have read something about it in the news-

OVER A FIERY FURNACE 143

papers, and to deliberately fire on us, with the
chance of disabling us, seems worse than barbar-

ous."

"Well, we won't give 'em another opportunity,**
commented Mr. Damon.

"No, indeed, not this city, but who knows but
what the example may spread ? We may be fired
at the next town we sail over."

"Then steer clear of the towns," advised Tom.

"Impossible. We must pass over some, but
I'd like to solve this mystery."

The day passed without further incident, though
they did not go low enough down ->ver any city
to drop any messages. It was decided that it
would not be safe.

"We'll take a chance at night," suggested Tom,
and that evening, approaching a good-sized town
in the dusk, several of the weighted envelopes
were dropped overboard. Doubtless persons
walking along the street, who were startled by
hearing something fall with a "thud" at their feet,
were much startled to look up and see, dimly, a
great, ghostly shape moving in the air. But there
was no shooting, and, eventually, some of the
messages reached Mr. Swift, in Shopton. But
he could not answer them for the airship kept on
the move.

The night was spent floating in the air, with the

144 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

engine stopped, and the Red Cloud floating lazily
this way and that as the gentle winds shifted,
for it was calm. The "anchorage" if such it may
be called, was above a sparsely settled part of the
country, and if the lights of the airship were seen
from below, the farmers doubtless took them for
some new stars or, possibly, a comet.

"Now then for a fast, straight run!" cried
Tom, after breakfast had been served, and the
big motor, with its twenty cylinders, started.
"We'll be able to make the turn to-day, and then
make for home, won't we, Mr. Sharp ?"

"Well, we "ould do it, Tom," was the answer,
"but I like this mode of traveling so that I think
I'll lengthen the voyage. Instead of turning at
Atlanta, what do you say to making for Key
West, and then starting back ? That will be some-
thing of a trip. The Red Cloud is behaving much
better than I hoped she would."

"I'm willing to go further if Mr. Damon is."

"Oh, bless my shoe strings, I'm game!" ex-
claimed the eccentric man. "I always did want to
go to Key West, anyhow."

The craft was speeding along at a fast clip,
and dinner that day was served about three miles
in the air. Then, desiring to test the gliding
abilities of the airship, it was sent down on a long

OVER A FIERY FURNACE 145

slant, with the propellers stationary, the shifting
planes and rudders alone guiding it.

As the craft fairly slid down out of the sky,
like a sled on a bank of fleecy snow, Tom, who
was peering ahead, with his hand on the steering
wheel, cried out:

"I say! It looks as if we were going to run
into a thunder storm!"

"How's that ?" inquired Mr. Sharp, poking his
head from the motor compartment.

"He says there's a big storm ahead," repeated
Mr. Damon, "and I guess he's right. I see a
big bank of dark clouds, and there is a roaring
in the air."

Mr. Sharp, who had been making some ad-
justments to the motor went forward to take a
look. The Red Cloud was swiftly gliding down-
ward on a slant, straight toward a dark mass of
vapor, that seemed to be rolling first one way, and
then another, while as Mr. Damon had said, there
was a low rumbling proceeding from it

"That doesn't seem to be a thunder storm,"
spoke the balloonist, with a puzzled air.

They all regarded the dark mass of vapor in-
tently for a few seconds. Tom had brought the
airship to a more level keel, and it was now spin-
ning along under its own momentum, like a flat
piece of tin, scaled by some lead. But it was

146 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

Headed for the clouds, if such they were, thougK
losing speed by degrees.

"I'll have to start the motor!" exclaimed Mr.
Sharp. "We don't want to run into a storm, if
we can help it, though I don't ever remember
seeing a thunder disturbance like that."

"Whew! It's getting warm/' suddenly an-
nounced the youth, and he let go of the steering
wheel for a moment, while he took off his coat.

"That's what it is," agreed Mr. Damon, who
also divested himself of his garments. "Bless
my spark plug, but it's like a July day. No won-
der there's a thunderstorm ahead."

Then Mr. Sharp uttered a cry.

"That's no storm !" he fairly shouted. "It's a
big forest fire ! That's smoke we see ! We must
gtt out of this. Turn around Tom, while I start
the engine. We must rise above it !"

He fairly leaped for the motor, and Tom and
Mr. Damon could hear him turning the levers
and wheels, ready to start. But before the ex-
plosions came something happened. There was a
sound as of some great, siren whistle blowing, and
then, with a howl of the on rushing air, the Red
Cloud, the propellers of which hung motionless on
their shafts, was fairly sucked forward toward
the fire, as the current sucks a boat over a water
fall.

OVER A FIERY FURNACE 147

"Start the motor ! Start the motor, Mr. Sharp !"
cried Tom.

"I'm trying to, but something seems to be the
matter."

"We're being drawn right over the fire !" yelled
Mr. Damon. "It's getting hotter every minute!
Can't you do something?"

"You take the wheel," called the balloonist to
Mr. Damon. "Steer around, just as if it was an
auto when we start the engine. Tom, come here
and give me a hand. The motor has jammed !"

The young inventor sprang to obey. Mr. Da-
mon, his face showing some of the fear he felt,
grasped the steering wheel. The airship was now
about a quarter of a mile high, but instead of rest-
ing motionless in the air, sustained by the gas in
the container, she was being pulled forward, right
toward the heart of the mass of black vapor,
which it could now be seen was streaked with
bright tongues of flame.

"What's making us go ahead, if the motor isn't
going ?" asked Tom, as he bent over the machine,
at which the aeronaut was laboring.

"Suction — draught from the fire!" explained
Mr. Sharp. "Heated air rises and leaves a vacuum.
The cold air rushes in. It's carrying us with it.
We'll be right in the fire in a few minutes, if we

148 TOM SWIFT "AND "HIS 'AIRSHIP

can't get started witK this motor! I don't see
what ails it."

"Can't we steer to one side, as it is ?"

"No. We're right in a powerful current of air,
and steering won't do any good, until we have
some motion of our own. Turn the gasolene
lever on a little more, and see if you can get a
spark."

Tom did so, but no explosion resulted. The
twenty cylinders of the big engine remained mute.
The airship, meanwhile, was gathering speed,
sucked onward and downward as it was by the
draught from the fire. The roaring was plainer
now, and the crackling of the flames could be
heard plainly. The heat, too, grew more in-
tense.

Frantically Tom and Mr. Sharp labored over
the motor. With the perverseness usual to gas
engines, it had refused to work at a critical mo-
ment.

"What shall I do?" cried Mr. Damon from his
position \n the pilot house. "We seem to be
heading right for the midst of it?"

"Slant the elevation rudder," called Tom. "Send
the ship up. It will be cooler the higher we go.
Maybe we can float over it !"

"You'd better go out there," advised Mr. Sharp.
"I'll keep at this motor. Go up as high as you

OVER A FIERY FURNACE 149

can. Turn on more gas. That will elevate us,
but maybe not quick enough. The gas doesn't
generate well in great heat. I'm afraid we're
in for it," he added grimly.

Tom sprang to relieve Mr. Damon. The heat
was now intense. Nearer and nearer came the
Red Cloud to the blazing forest, which seemed to
cover several square miles. Great masses of
smoke, with huge pieces of charred and blazing
wood carried up by the great draught, circled
around the ship. The Red Cloud was being pulled
into the midst of the fire by the strong suction,
Tom yanked over the elevation rudder, and the
nose of the craft pointed upward. But it still
moved downward, and, a moment later the travel-
ers of the air felt as if they were over a fiery fur-
nace.

CHAPTER XVII
"WANTED — FOR ROBBERY !"

CHOKING and gasping for breath, feeling as it
they could not stand the intense heat more than
a moment longer, the young inventor and his com-
panions looked at each other. Death seemed ready
to reach out and grasp them. The mass of heated
air was so powerful that it swung and tossed the
Red Cloud about as if it were a wisp of paper.

"We must do something!" cried Mr. Damon,
beginning to take off his collar and vest. "I'm
choking !"

"Lie down in the bottom of the car," suggested
Mr. Sharp. "The smoke won't trouble you so
much there."

The eccentric man, too startled, now, to use any
of his "blessing" expressions, did so.

"Can't you start the motor?" asked Tom franti-
cally, as he stuck to his post, with his hand on the
steering wheel, the elevation lever jammed back
as far as it would go.

150

"WANTED— FOR ROBBERY!" 151

"I've done my best," answered the balloonist,
gasping as he swallowed some smoke. "I'm afraid
— afraid it's all up with us. We should have
steered clear of this from the first. My, how it
roars!"

The crackling and snapping of the flames below
them, as they fed on the dry wood, which no rain
had wet for weeks, was like the rush of some great
cataract. Up swirled the dark smoke-clouds,
growing hotter and hotter all the while as the
craft came nearer and nearer to the center of the
conflagration.

"We must rise higher!" cried Tom. "It's
our only chance. Turn on the gas machine full
power, and fill the container. That will carry
us up!"

"Yes, it's our only hope," muttered Mr. Sharp.
"We must go up, but the trouble is the gas doesn't
generate so fast when there's too much heat.
We're bound to have to stay over this fiery pit
for some time yet."

"We're going up a little !" spoke Tom hopeful-
ly, as he glanced at a gauge near him. "We're
ifteen hundred feet now, and we were only
:welve a while ago."

"Good ! Keep the elevation rudder as it is, and
I'll see what I can do with the gas," advisee! the
balloonist. "It's our only hope," and he hurried

152 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

into the engine room, which, like the other parts
of the cabin, was now murky with choking vapor
and soot.

Suddenly the elevation gauge showed that they
were falling. The airship was going down.

"What's the matter?" called Mr. Damon, from
the cabin floor.

"I don't know," answered Tom, "unless the
rudder has broken."

He peered through the haze. No, the big eleva-
tion rudder was still in place, but it seemed to
have no effect on the ship.

"It's a down draught!" cried Mr. Sharp. "We're
being sucked down. It won't last but a few sec-
onds. I've been in 'em before."

He seemed to have guessed rightly, for, the
next instant the airship was shooting upward
again, and relief came to the aeronauts, though it
was not much, for the heat was almost unbearable,
and they had taken off nearly all their clothing.

"Lighten ship!" sung out Mr. Sharp. "Toss
over all the things you think we can spare, Tom.
Some of the cases of provisions! We can get
more — if we need 'em. We must rise, and the
gas isn't generating fast enough !"

There was no need for the young inventor at
the steering wheel now, for the craft simply could
not be guided. It was swirled about, now this

"WANTED— FOR ROBBERY!" 153

way, now that, by the currents of heated air. At
times it would rise a considerable distance, only
to be pulled down again, and, just before Tom
began to toss overboard some boxes of food, it
seemed that the end had come, for the craft went
down so low that the upward leaping tongues of
flame almost reached the lower frame.

"I'll help you/' gasped Mr. Damon, and while
he and Tom tossed from the cabin windows some
of their stores, Mr. Sharp was frantically endeav-
oring to make the gas generate faster.

It was slow work, but with the lightening of
the ship their situation improved. Slowly, so
slowly that it seemed an age, the elevation pointer
went higher and higher on the dial.

"Sixteen hundred feet !" sung out Tom, pausing
for a look at the gauge. "That's the best yet !"

The heat was felt less, now, and every minute
was improving their situation. Slowly the hand
moved. The gas was being made in larger quan-
tities now that the heat was less. Ten minutes
more of agony, and their danger was over. They
were still above the burning area, but sufficiently
high so that only stray wisps of smoke enveloped
them.

"Whew ! But that was the worst ever !" cried
Tom, as he sank exhausted on a bench, and wiped

154 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

his perspiring face. "We sure were in a bad
way!"

"I should say so," agreed Mr. Sharp. "And if
we don't get a breeze we may have to stay here
for some time."

"Why, can't you get that motor to work yet?"
asked Mr. Damon. "Bless my gaiters, but I'm
all in, as the boys say."

"I'll have another try at the machine now,"
replied Mr. Sharp. "Probably it will work now,
after we're out of danger without the aid of it."

His guess proved correct, for, in a few min-
utes, with the aid of Tom, the motor started, the
propellers revolved, and the Red Cloud was sent
swiftly out of the fire zone.

"Now we'd better take account of ourselves,
our provisions, and the ship," said Mr. Sharp,
when they had flown about twenty miles, and
were much refreshed by the cooler atmosphere.
"I don't believe the craft is damaged any, excep*
some of the braces may be warped by the heat
As for the provisions, you threw over a lot ; didn't
you, Tom ?"

"Well, I had to."

"*Yes, I guess you did. Well, we'll make a
landing."

you think it will be safe?" asked Mr.

"WANTED— FOR ROBBERY!" 155

Damon anxiously. "We might be fired upon
again."

"Oh, there's no danger of that. But I'll take
precautions. I don't want a big crowd around
when we come down, so we'll pick out a secluded
place and land just at dusk. Then in the
morning we can look over the ship, and go to
the nearest town to buy provisions. After that
we can continue our journey, and we'll steer clear
of forest fires after this."

"And people who shoot at us," added Mr.
Damon.

"Yes. I wish I knew what that was done for,"
and once again came that puzzled look to the face
of the balloonist.

The airship gently descended that evening in
a large level field, a good landing being made.
Just before the descent Tom took an observation
and located, about two miles from the spot they
selected for an "anchorage," a good-sized vil-
lage.

"We can get provisions there," he announced.

"Yes, but we must not let it be known what
they are for," said Mr. Sharp, "or we'll have the
whole population out here. I think this will be a
good plan: Tom, you and Mr. Damon go into
town and buy the things we need. I'll stay here
with the airship, and look it all over. You can

156 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

arrange to have the stuff carted out here in the
morning, and left at a point say about a quarter
of a mile away. Then we can carry it to the
ship. In that way no one will discover us, and
we'll not be bothered with curiosity-seekers."

This was voted a good idea, and, when the land-
ing had been made, and a hasty examination
showed that the ship had suffered no great dam-
age from the passage over the fire, the young
inventor and Mr. Damon started off.

They soon found a good road, leading to town,
and tramped along it in the early evening. The
few persons they met paid little attention to them,
save to bow in a friendly fashion, and, occasional-
ly wish them good evening.

"I wonder where we are ?" asked Tom, as they
hurried along.

"In some southern town, to judge by the voices
of the people, and the number of colored individ*
uals we've met," answered Mr. Damon.

"Let's ask," suggested Tom.

"No, if you do they'll know we're strangers,
and they may ask a lot of questions."

"Oh, I guess if it's a small place they'll know
we're strangers soon enough," commented Tom.
"But when we get to the village itself we can
read the name on the store windows."

A few minutes later found them in the midst

'WANTED— FOR ROBBERY!" 157

of a typical southern town. It was Berneau,

North Carolina, according to the signs, they saw.

"Here's a restaurant," called Tom, as they

passed a neat-appearing one. "Let's go inside

and get some supper before we buy our supplies."

"Good!" exclaimed Mr. Damon. "Bless my

flapjacks, but I am beginning to feel hungry."

The, eating place was a good one, and Tom's
predictions about their being taken for strangers
was verified, for, no sooner had they given
their orders than the pretty, white girl, who waited
on the table remarked :

"Ah reckon yo' all are from th' no'th; aren't
yo'?"

She smiled, as she spoke, and Tom smiled back
as he acknowledged it.

"Have you a paper — a newspaper I could look
at?" he asked.

"Ah guess Ah can find one," went on the girl.
"Ah reckon yo' all are from N' York. N' York-
ers are so desperant bent on readin' th' news."
Her tones were almost like those of a colored
person.

"Yes, we're from a part of New York," was
Tom's reply.

When a newspaper was brought to him, after
they had nearly finished their meal, the young in-
ventor rapidly scanned the pages. Something on

158 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

the front sheet, under a heading of big, black
type caught his eye. He started as he read it :

WANTED FOR ROBBERY!

BANK LOOTERS ESCAPE IN RED AIRSHIP FIRED AT

BUT DISAPPEAR

•

"Great Jehosophat !" exclaimed Tom, in a low
voice. "What on earth can this mean?"

"What?" inquired Mr. Damon. "Has any-
thing happened ?"

"Happened ? I should say there had," was the
answer. "Why, we're accused of having robbed
the Shopton Bank of seventy-five thousand dol-
lars the night before we left, and to have taken
it away in the Red Cloud. There's a general alarm
out for us ! Why this is awful !"

"It's preposterous!" burst out Mr. Damon.
"I'l have my lawyers sue this paper. Bless my
stocks and bonds, I !"

"Hush ! Not so loud," cautioned Tom, for the
pretty waitress was watching them curiously.
"Here, read this, and then we'll decide what to do.
But one thing is certain, we must go back to
Shopton at once to clear ourselves of this ac-
cusation."

"WANTED— FOR ROBBERY!" 159

"Ha!" murmured Mr. Damon, as he read the
article rapidly. "Now I know why they fired at
us. They hoped to bring us down, capture us,
and get the five thousand dollars reward i**

CHAPTER XVIII

BACK FOR VINDICATION

TOM glanced around the restaurant. There
were few persons in it save himself and Mr.
Damon. The pretty waitress was still regarding
the two curiously.

"We ought to take that paper along with us,
to show to Mr. Sharp," said Tom, in a low voice
to his friend. "I haven't had time to take it all
in myself, yet. Let's go. I've had enough to
eat; haven't you?"

"Yes. My appetite is gone now."

As they arose, to pay their checks the girl ad-
vanced.

"Can you tell me where I can get a copy of
this paper?" asked Tom, as he laid down a gen-
erous tip on the table, for the girl. Her eyes
opened rather wide.

"Yo' all are fo'gettin' some of yo' money." she
said, in her broad, southern tones. Tom thought
160

BACK FOR VINDICATION 161

her the prettiest girl he ever seen, excepting Mary
Nestor.

"Oh, that's for you," replied the young inven-
tor. "It's a tip. Aren't you in the habit of
getting them down here?"

"Not very often. Thank yo' all. But what
did yo' all ask about that paper ?"

"I asked where I could get a copy of it. There
is something in it that interests me."

"Yes, an' Ah reckon Ah knows what it is,"
exclaimed the girl. "It's about that airship with
th' robbers in it!"

"How do you know?" inquired Tom quickly,
and he tried to seem cool, though he felt the hot
blood mounting to his cheeks.

"Oh, Ah saw yo' all readin' it. Everybody
down heah is crazy about it. We all think th'
ship is comin' down this way, 'cause it says th'
robbers was intendin' to start south befo' they
robbed th' bank. Ah wish Ah could collect thet
five thousand dollars. If Ah could see that air-
ship, I wouldn't work no mo' in this eatin' place.
What do yo' all reckon thet airship looks like?"
and the girl gazed intently at Tom and Mr.
Damon.

"Why, bless my — " began the eccentric man,
but Tom broke in hurriedly :

"Oh, I guess it looks like most any other air-

162 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

ship," for he feared that if his companion used
any of his odd expressions he might be recognized,
since our hero had not had time to read the article
in the paper through, and was not sure whether
or not a description of himself, Mr. Damon and
Mr. Sharp was given.

"Well, Ah suah wish I could collect thet re-
ward," went on the girl. "Everybody is on thr
lookout. Yo' all ain't see th' airship; have yo'
all?"

"Where can we get a paper like this?" asked
Tom, again, not wanting to answer such a lead-
ing question.

"Why, yo' all is suah welcome to that one,"
was the reply. "Ah guess Ah can affo'd to give
it to yo' all, after th' generous way yo' all be-
haved to me. Take it, an' welcome. But are yo'
all suah yo' are done eatin' ? Yo' all left lots."

"Oh, we had enough," replied Tom hurriedly.
His sole aim now was to get away — to consult
with Mr. Sharp, and he needed the paper to learn
further details of the astonishing news. He and
his friends accused of looting the bank, and tak-
ing away seventy-five thousand dollars in the air-
ship ! It was incredible ! A reward of five thou-
sand dollars offered for their capture! They
might be arrested any minute, yet they could not

BACK FOR VINDICATION 163

go on without buying some provisions. What
were they to do ?

Once outside the restaurant, Mr. Damon and
Tom walked swiftly on. They came to a corner
where there was a street lamp, and there the young
inventor paused to scan the paper again. It was
the copy of a journal published in the nearby
county seat, and contained quite a full account
of the affair.

The story was told of how the bank had been
broken into, the vault rifled and the money taken.
The first clue, it said, was given by a youth named
Andy Foger, who had seen a former acquaintance
hanging around the bank with burglar tools.
Tom recognized the description of himself as the
"former acquaintence," but he could not under-
stand the rest.

"Burglar tools? I wonder how Andy could
say that?" he asked Mr. Damon.

"Wait until we get back, and we'll ask John
Sharp," suggested his companion. "This is very
strange. I am going to sue some one for spread-
ing false reports about me! Bless my ledgers,
why I have money on deposit in that bank! To
think that I would rob it !"

"Poor dad !" murmured Tom. "This must be
hard for him. But what about ordering food?
Maybe if we buy any they will trail us, find the air-

164 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

ship and capture it. I don't want to be arrested,
even if I am innocent, and I certainly don't want
the airship to fall into the hands of the police.
They might damage it."

"We must go see Mr. Sharp/' declared Mr.
Damon, and back to where the Red Cloud was
concealed they went.

To say that the balloonist was astonished is
putting it mildly. He was even more excited
than was Mr. Damon.

"Wait until I get hold of that Andy Foger!"
he cried. "I'll make him sweat for this! I see
he's already laid claim to the reward," he added,
reading further along in the article. "He thinks
he has put the police on our trail."

"So he seems to have done," added Tom. "The
whole country has been notified to look out for
us," the paper says. "We're likely to be fired upon
whenever we pass over a city or a town."

"Then we'll have to avoid them," declared the
balloonist.

"But we must go back," declared Tom.

"Of course. Back to be vindicated. We'll havf
to give up our trip. My, my ! But this is a sur<
prise!"

"I don't see what makes Andy say he saw me
with burglar tools," commented Tom, with 3
puzzled air.

GACK FOR VINDICATION 165

Mr. Sharp thought for a moment. Then he ex*
claimed :

"It was that bag of tools I sent you after — the
long wrenches, the pliers, and the brace and bits.
You "

"Of course!" cried Tom. "I remember now.
The bag dropped and opened, and Andy and Sam
saw the tools. But the idea of taking them for
burglar tools!"

"Well, I suppose the burglars, whoever they
were, did use tools similar to those to break
open the vault," put in Mr. Damon. "Andy
probably thought he was a smart lad to put the
police on our track."

"I'll put him on the track, when I return," de-
clared Mr. Sharp. "Well, now, what's to be
done?"

"We've got to have food," suggested Tom.

"Yes, but I think we can manage that. I've
been looking over the ship, as best I could in the
dark. It seems to be all right. We can start
tearly in the morning without anyone around here
knowing we paid their town a visit. You and
Mr. Damon go back to town, Tom, and order
some stuff. Have the man leave it by the road-
side early to-morrow morning. Tell him it's for
some travelers, who will stop and pick it up.
him well, and tell him to keep quiet, as it's

166 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

for a racing party. That's true enough. We're
going to race home to vindicate our reputations.
I think that will be all right."

"The man may get suspicious," said Mr.
Damon.

"I hope not," answered the balloonist. "We've
got to take a chance, anyhow."

The plan worked well, however, the store keepet
promising to have the supplies on hand at the
time and place mentioned. He winked as Tom
asked him to keep quiet about it.

"Oh, I know yo' automobile fellers," he said
with a laugh. "You want to get some grub on the
fly, so you won't have to stop, an' can beat th'
other fellow. I know you, fer I see them auto-
mobile goggles stickin' out of your pocket."

Tom and Mr. Damon each had a pair, to use
when the wind was strong, but the young in-
ventor had forgotten about his. They now served
him a good turn, for they turned the thoughts of
the storekeeper into a new channel. The lad let
it go at that, and, paying for such things as he
and Mr. Damon could not carry, left the store.

The aeronauts passed an uneasy night. They
raised their ship high in the air, anchoring it by a
rope fast to a big tree, and they turned on no
lights, for they did not want to betray their posi-
tion. They descended before it was yet daylight,

BACK FOR V INDICATION 167

and a little later hurried to the place where the
provisions were left. They found their supplies
safely on hand, and, carrying them into the air-
ship, prepared to turn back to Shopton.

As the ship rose high in the air a crowd of
negro laborers passing through a distant field, saw
it. At once they raised a commotion, shouting
and pointing to the wonderful sight.

"We're discovered !" cried Tom.

"No matter," answered Mr. Sharp. "We'll
soon be out of sight, and we'll fly high the rest
of this trip."

Tom looked down on the fast disappearing lit-
tle hamlet, and he thought of the pretty girl in
the restaurant.

CHAPTER XIX

WRECKED

WITH her nose headed north, the Red Cloud
swung along through the air. Those on board
were thinking of many things, but chief among
them was the unjust accusation that had been
made against them, by an irresponsible boy — the
red-haired Andy Foger. They read the account
in the paper again, seeking to learn from it new
things at each perusal.

"It's just a lot of circumstantial evidence—-
that's what it is," said Tom. "I admit it might
look suspicious to anyone who didn't know us^
but Andy Foger has certainly done the most mis-
chief by his conclusions. Burglar tools! The
idea!"

"I think I shall sue the bank for damages,"
declared Mr. Damon. "They have injured my
reputation by making this accusation against me.
Anyhow, I'll certainly never do any more busi-
ness with them, and I'll withdraw my ten thou-
sand dollars deposit, as soon as we get back."
168

WRECKED 169

"Mr. Sharp doesn't seem to be accused of do-
ing anything at all," remarked Tom, reading the
article for perhaps the tenth time.

"Oh, I guess I'm a sort of general all-around
bad man, who helped you burglars to escape with
the booty," answered the balloonist, with a laugh.
"I expect to be arrested along with you two."

"But must we be arrested?" inquired Tom
anxiously. "I don't like that idea at all. We
haven't done anything."

'This is my plan," went on Mr. Sharp. "We'll
get back to Shopton as quickly as we can. We'll
arrive at night, so no one will see us, and, leaving
the airship in some secluded spot, we'll go to the
police and explain matters. We can easily prove
that we had nothing to do with the robbery. Why
we were all home the night it happened! Mr.
Swift, Mr. Jackson and Mrs. Baggert can testify
to that."

"Yes," agreed Mr. Damon. "I guess they can.
Bless my bank book, but that seems a good plan.
We'll follow it."

Proceeding on the plan which they had decided
was the best one, the Red Cloud was sent high into
the air. So high up was it that, at times, it was
above the clouds. Though this caused some lit-
tle discomfort at first, especially to Mr. Damon,
he soon became used to it, as did the others. And

170 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

it had the advantage of concealing them from the
persons below who might be on the lookout.

"For we don't want to be shot at again," ex-
plained Mr. Sharp. "It isn't altogether healthy,
and not very safe. If we keep high up they can't
see us; much less shoot at us. They'll take us
for some big bird. Then, too, we can go faster."

"I suppose there will be another alarm sent out,
from those negroes having sighted us," ventured
Tom.

"Oh, yes, but those colored fellows were so ex-
cited they may describe us as having horns, hoofs
and a tail, and their story may not be believed.
I'm not worrying about them. My chief concern
is to drive the Red Cloud for all she is worth. I
want to explain some things back there in Shop-
ton."

As if repenting of the way it had misbehaved
over the forest fire, the airship was now swinging
along at a rapid rate. Seated in the cabin the
travelers would have really enjoyed the return
trip had it not been for the accusation hanging
over them. The weather was fine and clear, and
as they skimmed along, now and then coming
out from the clouds, they caught glimpses below
them of the earth above which they were traveling.
They had a general idea of their location, from
knowing the town where the paper had given

WRECKED 171

them such astounding news, and it was easy to
calculate their rate of progress.

After running about a hundred miles or so, at
high speed Mr. Sharp found it necessary to slow
down the motor, as some of the new bearings
were heating. Still this gave them no alarm, as
they were making good time. They came to a
stop that night, and calculated that by the next
evening, or two at the latest, they; would be back
in Shopton. But they did not calculate on an ac-
cident.

One of the cylinders on the big motor cracked,
as they started up next morning, and for some
hours they had to hang in the air, suspended by
the gas in the container, while Mr. Sharp and
Tom took out the damaged part, and put in a
spare one, the cylinders being cast separately. It
was dusk when they finished, and too late to
start up, so they remained about in the same
place until the next day.

Morning dawned with a hot humidness, unusual
at that time of the year, but partly accounted
for by the fact that they were still within the
influence of the southern climate. With a whizz
the big propellers were set in motion, and, with
Tom at the wheel, the ship being about three miles
in the air, to which height it had risen after the
repairs were made, the journey was recommenced.

172 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

"It's cooler up here than down below/' re-
marked Tom, as he shifted the wheel and rudder
a bit, in response to a gust of wind, that heeled
the craft over.

"Yes, I think we're going to have a storm,"
remarked Mr. Sharp, eyeing the clouds with a
professional air. "We may run ahead of it, or
right into it. We'll go down a bit, toward night,
when there's less danger of being shot."

So far, on their return trip, they had not been
low enough, in the day time, to be in any danger
from persons who hoped to earn the five thousand
dollars reward.

The afternoon passed quickly, and it got dark
early. There was a curious hum to the wind, and,
hearing it, Mr. Sharp began to go about the ship,
seeing that everything was fast and taut.

"We're going to have a blow," he remarked,,
"and a heavy one, too. We'll have to make every-
thing snug, and be ready to go up or down, as
the case calls for."

"Up or down ?" inquired Mr. Damon.

"Yes. By rising we may escape the blow, or,
by going below the strata of agitated air, we may
escape it."

"How about rain?"

"Well, you can get above rain, but you can't
get below it, with the law of gravitation working

WRECKED 173

as it does at present. How's the gas generator,
Tom?"

"Seems to be all right," replied the young in-
ventor, who had relinquished the wheel to the
balloonist.

They ate an early supper, and, hardly had the
dishes been put away, when from the west, where
there was a low-flying bank of clouds, there came
a mutter of thunder. A little later there was a
dull, red illumination amid the rolling masses of
vapor.

"There's the storm, and she's heading right
this way," commented Mr. Sharp.

"Can't you avoid it?" asked Mr. Damon, anx-
iously.

"I could, if I knew how high it was, but I
guess we'll wait and see how it looks as we get
closer."

The airship was flying on, and the storm,
driven by a mighty wind, was rushing to meet
it. Already there was a sighing, moaning sound
in the wire and wooden braces of the Red Cloud.

Suddenly there came such a blast that it heeled
the ship over on her side.

"Shift the equilibrium rudders!" shouted Mr.
Sharp to Tom, turning the wheel and various
levers over to the lad. "I'm going to get more
speed out of the motor!"

174 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

Tom acted just in time, and, after bobbing
about like a cork on the water, the ship was
righted, and sent forging ahead, under the in-
fluence of the propellers worked at top speed. Nor
was this any too much, for it needed all the power
of the big engine to even partially overcome the
force of the wind that was blowing right against
the Red Cloud. Of course they might have turned
and flown before it, but they wanted to go north,
not south — they wanted to face their accusers.

Then, after the first fury of the blast had spent
itself, there came a deluge of rain, following a
dazzling glare of lightning and a bursting crash
of thunder.

In spite of the gale buffeting her, the airship
was making good progress. The skill of Tom
and the balloonist was never shown to better
advantage. All around them the storm raged, but
through it the craft kept on her way. Nothing
could be seen but pelting sheets of water and
swirling mist, yet onward the ship was driven.

The thunder was deafening, and the lightning
nearly blinded them, until the electrics were
switched on, flooding the cabin with radiance.
Inside the car they were snug and dry, though the
pitching of the craft was like that of a big liner
in the trough of the ocean waves.

"Will she weather it, do you think?" called Mr.

WRECKED 175

Damon, in the ear of Mr. Sharp, shouting so as
to be heard above the noise of the elements, and
the hum of the motor.

The balloonist nodded.

"She's a good ship," he answered proudly.

Hardly had he spoken when there came a crash
louder than any that had preceded, and the flash
of rosy light that accompanied it seemed to set
the whole heavens on fire. At the same time
there was violent shock to the ship.

" We're hit S Struck by lightning !" yelled Tom.

"We're falling!" cried Mr. Damon an instant
later.

Mr. Sharp looked at the elevation gauge. The
hand was slowly swinging around. Down, down
dropped the Red Cloud. She was being roughly
treated by the storm.

"I'm afraid we're wrecked!" said the balloon-
ist in a low voice, scarcely audible above the roar
of the tempest. Following the great crash had
come a comparatively light bombardment from the
sky artillery.

"Use the gliding rudder, Tom," called Mr.
Sharp, a moment later. "We may fall, but we'll
land as easily as possible."

The wind, the rain, the lightning and thunder
continued. Down, down sank the ship. Its fall
was somewhat checked by the rudder Tom swung

176 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

into place, and by setting the planes at a different
angle. The motor had been stopped, and the
propellers no longer revolved. In the confusion
and darkness it was not safe to run ahead, with
the danger of colliding with unseen objects on the
earth.

They tried to peer from the windows, but
could see nothing. A moment later, as they stared
at each other with fear in their eyes, there came
a shock. The ship trembled from end to end.

"We've landed !" cried Tom, as he yanked back
on the levers. The airship came to a stop.

"Now to see where we are," said Mr. Sharp
grimly, "and how badly we are wrecked"

CHAPTER XX

TOM GETS A CLUE

OUT of the cabin of the now stationary airship
hurried the three travelers; out into the pelting
rain, which was lashed into their faces by the
strong wind. Tom was the first to emerge.

"We're on something solid !" he cried, stamping
his feet. "A rock, I guess."

"Gracious, I hope we're not on a rock in the
midst of a river !" exclaimed Mr. Damon. "Bless
my soul, though! The water does seem to be
running around my ankles."

"There's enough rain to make water run almost
up to our necks," called Mr. Sharp, above the
noise of the storm. "Tom, can you make out
where we are?"

"Not exactly. Is the ship all right?"

"I can't see very well, but there appears to be
a hole in the gas container. A big one, too, or we
wouldn't have fallen so quickly."

The plight of the travelers of the air was any-
177

178 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

thing but enviable. They were wet through, for
it needed only a few minutes' exposure to the pelt-
ing storm to bring this about. They could not
tell, in the midst of the darkness, where they
were, and they almost feared to move for fear
they might be on top of some rock or precipice,
over which they might tumble if they took a false
step.

"Let's get back inside the ship/' proposed Mr.
Damon. "It's warm and dry there, at all events.
Bless my umbrella, I don't know when I've been
so wet!"

"I'm not going in until I find out where we
are," declared Tom. "Wait a minute, and I'll
go in and get an electric flash lantern. That will
show us," for the lightning had ceased with the
great crash that seemed to have wrecked the Red
Cloud. The rain still kept up, however, and there
was a distant muttering of thunder, whik it was
so black that had not the lights in the cabin of
the airship been faintly glowing they could hardly
have found the craft had they moved ten feet
away from it.

Tom soon returned with the portable electric
lamp, operated by dry batteries. He flashed it on
the surface of where they were standing, and
uttered an exclamation.

"We're on a roof!" he cried.

TOM GETS A CLUE 179

"A roof ?" repeated Mr. Damon.

"Yes; the roof of some large building, and
what you thought was a river is the rain water
running off it. See !"

The young inventor held the light down so
his companions could observe the surface of that
upon which the airship rested. There was no
doubt of it. They were on top of a large build-
ing.

"If we're on a roof we must be in the midst of
a city," objected Mr. Damon. "But I can't see
any lights around, and we would see them if we
were in a city, you know."

"Maybe the storm put the lights out of busi-
ness," suggested Mr. Sharp. "That often oc-

curs."

"I know one way we can find out for certain,"
went on Tom.

"How?"

"Start up our search lamp, and play it all
around. We can't make sure how large this roof
is in the dark, and it's risky trying to trace the
edges by walking around."

"Yes, and it would be risky to start our search
light going," objected Mr. Sharp. "People would
see it, and there'd be a crowd up here in less than
no time, storm or no storm. No, we've got to

180 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

keep dark until I can see what's the matter. We
must leave here before daylight."

"Suppose we can't?" asked Mr. Damon. "The
crowds will be sure to see us then, anyhow."

"I am pretty sure we can get away," was the
opinion of the balloonist. "Even if our gas con-
tainer is so damaged that it will not sustain us,
we are still an aeroplane, and this roof being
flat will make a good place to start from. No, we
can leave as soon as this storm lets up a little."

"Then I'm going to have a look and find out
what sort of a building this is," declared Tom,
and, while Mr. Sharp began a survey, as well
as he could in the dark, of the airship, the young
inventor proceeded cautiously to ascertain the ex-
tent of the roof.

The rain was not coming down quite so hard
now, and Tom found it easier to see. Mr. Damon,
finding he could do nothing to help, went back
into the cabin, blessing himself and his various
possessions at the queer predicament in which they
found themselves.

Flashing his light every few seconds, Tom
walked on until he came to one edge of the roof.
It was very large, as he could judge by the time
it took him to traverse it. There was a low para-
pet at the edge. He peered over, and an ex-
panse of dark wall met his eyes.

TOM GETS A CLUE 181

"Must have come to one side/' he reasoned
""I want to get to the front. Then, maybe, I can
see a sign that will tell me what I want to know."

The lad turned to the left, and, presently came
to another parapet. It was higher, and orna-
mented with terra-cotta bricks. This, evidently,
was the front. As Tom peered over the edge of
the little raised ledge, there flashed out below him
hundreds of electric lights. The city illuminating
plant was being repaired. Then Tom saw flash-
ing below him one of those large signs made of
incandescent lights. It was in front of the build-
ing, and as soon as our hero saw the words he
knew where the airship had landed. For what
he read, as he leaned over, was this :

MIDDLEVILLE ARCADE

Tom gave a cry.

"What's the matter?" called Mr. Sharp.

"I've discovered something," answered Tom,
hurrying up to his friend. "We're on top of the
Middleville Arcade building."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that we're not so very far from
home, and in the midst of a fairly large city.
But it means more than that."

"What?" demanded the balloonist, struck by

182 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

an air of excitement about the lad, for, as Tom
stood in the subdued glow of the lights from one
of the airship's cabin windows, all the others hav-
ing been darkened as the storm slackened, his
eyes shone brightly.

"This is the building where Anson Morse, one
of the gang that robbed dad, once had an office,"
went on Tom eagerly. "That was brought out
at the trial. And it's the place where they used
to do some of their conspiring. Maybe some of
the crowd are here now laying low."

"Well, if they are, we don't want anything
to do with that gang," said Mr. Sharp. "We
can't arrest them. Besides I've found out that
our ship is all right, after all. We can proceed
as soon as we like. There is only a small leak
in the gas container. It was the generator ma-
chine that was put out of business by the light-
jning, and I've repaired it."

"I want to see if I can get any trace of thr
rascals. Maybe I could learn something from the
janitor of the Arcade about them. The janitor
is probably here."

"But why do you want to get any information
about that gang?"

"Because," answered Tom, and, as Mr. Damon
at that moment started to come from the cabin
of the airship, the lad leaped forward and whis-

TOM GETS A CLUE 183-

pered the remainder of the sentence into the ear
of the balloonist.

"You don't mean it!" exclaimed Mr. Sharp,
in a tense whisper. Tom nodded vigorously.

"But how can you enter the building?" asked
the other. "You can't drop over the edge."

"Down the scuttle," answered Tom. "There
must be one on the roof, for they have to come
up here at times. We can force the lock, if neces-
sary. I want to enter the building and see where
Morse had his office."

"All right. Go ahead. I'll engage Mr. Damon
here so he won't follow you. It will be great
news for him. Go ahead."

Under pretense of wanting the help of the
eccentric man in completing the repairs he had
started, Mr. Sharp took Mr. Damon back into the
cabin. Tom, getting a big screw driver from
an outside tool-box, approached the scuttle on the
roof. He could see it looming up in the semi-
darkness, a sort of box, covering a stairway that
led down into the building. The door was locked,
but Tom forced it, and felt justified. A few min-
utes later, cautiously flashing his light, almost
like a burglar he thought, he was prowling around
the corridors of the office structure.

Was it deserted ? That was what he wanted to
know. He knew the office Morse had formerly

184 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

occupied was two floors from the top. Tom
descended the staircase, trying to think up some
excuse to offer, in case he met the watchman or
janitor. But he encountered no one. As he reached
the floor where he knew Morse and his gang were
wont to assemble, he paused and listened. At
first he heard nothing, then, as the sound of the
storm became less he fancied he heard the mur-
mur of voices.

"Suppose it should be some of them?" whis-
pered Tom.

He went forward, pausing at almost every
other step to listen. The voices became louden
Tom was now nearly at the office, where Morse
had once had his quarters. Now he could see it,
and his heart gave a great thump as he noticed
that the place was lighted. The lad could read
the name on the door. "Industrial Development
Company." That was the name of a fake concern
headed by Morse. As our hero looked he saw the
shadows of two men thrown on the ground glass.

"Some one's in there!" he whispered to hinv
self. He could now hear the voices much plainer,
They came from the room, but the lad could not
distinguish them as belonging to any of the gang
with whom he had come in contact, and who had
escaped from jail.

The low murmur went on for several seconds.

TOM GETS A CLUE 185

The listener could make out no words. Suddenly
the low, even mumble was broken. Some one
cried out:

"There's got to be a divvy soon. There's no
use letting Morse hold that whole seventy-five
thousand any longer. I'm going to get what's
coming to me, or "

"Hush!" some one else cried. "Be quiet!"

"No, I won't! I want my share. I've waited
long enough. If I don't get what's coming to
me inside of a week, I'll go to Shagmon myself
and make Morse whack up. I helped on the job,
and I want my money!"

"Will you be quiet?" pleaded another, and, at
that instant Tom heard some one's hand on the
knob. The door opened a crack, letting out a
pencil of light. The men were evidently coming
out. The young inventor did not wait to hear
more. He had a clue now, and, running on tip-
toes, he made his way to the staircase and out of
the scuttle on the roof.

CHAPTER XXI

ON THE TRAIL

the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp,
as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having
taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as
well as he could. "You seem excited."

"So would you, if you had heard what I did."

"What? You don't mean that some of the
gang is down there?"

"Yes, and what's more I'm on the trail of the
thieves who robbed the Shopton Bank of the
seventy-five thousand dollars !"

"No! You don't mean it!"

"I certainly do."

"Then we'd better tell Mr. Damon. He's in
the cabin."

"Of course I'll tell him. He's as much con-
cerned as I am. He wants to be vindicated. Isn't
it great luck, though?"

"But you haven't landed the men yet. Do you
186

ON THE TRAIL 187

fnean to say that the same gang — the Happy
Harry crowd — r-ebbed the bank?"

"I think so, from what I heard. But come in-
side and I'll tell you all about it."

"Suppose we start the ship first? It's ready
to run. There wasn't as much the matter with it
as I feared. The storm is over now, and we'll
be safer up in the air than on this roof. Did you,
get all the information you could?"

"All I dared to. The men were coming out, so
I had to run. They were quarreling, and when
that happens among thieves "

"Why honest men get their dues, everyone
knows that proverb," interrupted Mr. Damon,
again emerging from the cabin. '"But bless my
quotation marks, I should think you'd have some-
thing better to do than stand there talking
proverbs."

"We have," replied Mr. Sharp quickly. "We're
going to start the ship, and then we have some
news for you. Tom, you take the steering wheel,
and I'll start the gas machine. We'll rise to some
distance before starting the propellers, and then
we won't create any excitement."

"But what news are you going to tell me?"
asked Mr. Damon. "Bless my very existence, but
you get me all excited, and then you won't gratify
my curiosity."

188 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

"In a little while we will," responded Mr,
Sharp. Lively now, Tom. Some one may see
this airship on top of the building, as it's getting
so much lighter now, after the storm."

The outburst of the elements was almost over
and Tom taking another look over the edge of the
roof, could see persons moving about in the street
below. The storm clouds were passing and a faint
haze showed where a moon would soon make its
appearance, thus disclosing the craft so oddly
perched upon the roof. There was need of haste.

Fortunately the Red Cloud could be sent aloft
without the use of the propellers, for the gas
would serve to lift her. It had been found that
lightning had struck the big, red aluminum con-
tainer, but the shock had been a comparatively
slight one, and, as the tank was insulated from
the rest of the ship no danger resulted to the
occupants. A rent was made in two or three of
the gas compartments, but the others remained in-
tact, and, when an increased pressure of the vapor
was used the ship was almost as bouyant as be-
fore.

Into the cabin the three travelers hurried, drip-
ping water at every step, for there was no time to
change clothes. Then, with Tom and Mr. Sharp
managing the machinery, the craft slowly rose.
It was well that they had started for, when a few

ON THE TRAIL 189

hundred feet above the roof, the moon suddenly
shone from behind a bank of clouds and would
most certainly have revealed their position to per-
sons in the street. As it was several were at-
tracted by the sight of some great object in the
air. They called the attention of others to it, but,
by the time glasses and telescopes had been
brought to bear, the Red Cloud was far away.

"Dry clothes now, some hot drinks, and then
Tom will tell us his secret," remarked Mr. Sharp,
and, with the great ship swaying high above the
city of Middleville Tom told what he had heard in
the offiice building.

"They are the thieves who looted the bank,
and caused us to be unjustly accused," he finished.
"If we can capture them we'll get the reward, and
turn a neat trick on Andy Foger and his cronies."

"But how can you capture them?" asked Mr.
Damon. "You don't know where they are."

"Perhaps not where Morse and the men
who have the money are. But I have a plan. It's
this: We'll go to some quiet place, leave the
airship, and then inform the authorities of our sus-
picions. They can come here and arrest the men
who still seem to be hanging out in Morse's of-
fice. Then we can get on the trail of this Shag-
mon, who seems to be the person in authority
this time, though I never heard of him before.

190 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

He seems to have the money, according to what
one of the men in the office said, and he's the
man we want."

"Shagmon !" exclaimed Mr. Damon.

"Yes, Shagmon. The fellow I heard talking
said he'd go to Shagmon and make Morse whack
up. Shagmon may be the real head of the gang."

"Ha! I have it!" cried Mr. Damon suddenly.
"I wonder I didn't think of it before. Shagmon
is the headquarters, not the head of the gang!"

"What do you mean?" asked Tom, much ex-
cited.

"I mean that there's a town called Shagmon
about fifty miles from here. That's what the fel-
low in the office meant. He is going to the town
of Shagmon and make Morse whack up. That's
where Morse is! That's where. the gang is hid-
ing ! That's where the money is ! Hurrah, Tom,
we're on the trail !"

CHAPTER XXII

THE SHERIFF ON BOARD

THE announcement of Mr. Damon came as a
great surprise to Tom and Mr. Sharp. They
had supposed that the reference to Shagmon was
to a person, and never dreamed that it was to a
locality. But Mr. Damon's knowledge of geog-
raphy stood them in good stead.

"Well, what's the first thing to do?" asked
Tom, after a pause.

'The first thing would be to go to Shagmon,
or close to it, I should say," remarked Mr. Sharp.
"In what direction is it, Mr. Damon?"

"Northwest from where we were. It's a county
seat, and that will suit our plans admirably, for
we can call on the sheriff for help."

"That is if we locate the gang," put in Tom.
"I fancy it will be no easy job, though. How are
we going about it?"

"Let's first get to Shagmon," suggested the
balloonist. "We'll select some quiet spot for a
191

192 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

landing, and then talk matters over. We may
stumble on the gang, just as you did, 'Tom, on
the men in the office."

"No such good luck, I'm afraid."

"Well, I think we'll all be better for a little
sleep," declared the eccentric man. "Bless my
eyelids but I'm tired out."

As there was no necessity for standing watch,
when the airship was so high up as to be almost
invisible, they all turned in, and were soon sleep-
ing soundly, though Tom had hard work at first
to compose himself, for he was excited at the
prospect of capturing the scoundrels, recovering
the money for the bank, and clearing his good
name, as well as those of his friends.

In the morning careful calculations were made
to enable the travelers to tell when they had
reached a point directly over the small city of
Shagmon, and, with the skill of the veteran bal-
loonist to aid them, this was accomplished. The
airship was headed in the proper direction, and,
about ten o'clock, having made out by using tele-
scopes, that there was plenty of uninhabited
land about the city, the craft was sent aloft again,
out of a large crowd that had caught sight of it.
For it was the intention of the travelers not to
land until after dark, as they wanted to keep
their arrival quiet. There were two reasons for

THE SHERIFF ON BOARD 193

this. One was that the whole country was eager
to arrest them, to claim the reward offered by the
bank, and they did not want this to happen. The
other reason was that they wanted to go quietly
into town, tell the sheriff their story, and enlist
his aid.

All that day the Red Cloud consorted with the
masses of fleecy vapor, several miles above the
earth, a position being maintained, as nearly as
could be judged by instruments, over a patch of
woodland where Mr. Sharp had decided to land,
as there were several large clearings in it. Back
and forth above tHe clouds, out of sight, the air-
ship drifted lazily to and fro; sometimes, when
she got too far off her course, being brought back
to the right spot by means of the propellers.

It was tedious waiting, but they felt it was the
only thing to do. Mr. Sharp and Tom busied
themselves making adjustments to several parts
of apparatus that needed it. Nothing could be
done toward repairing the hole in the aluminum
container until a shop or shed was reached, but the
ship really did not need these repairs to enable
it to be used. Mr. Damon was fretful, and
"blessed" so many things during the course of the
day that there seemed to be nothing left. Dinner
and supper took up some time, really good meals
being served by Tom, who was temporarily act-

194 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

ing as cook. Then they anxiously waited for
darkness, when they could descend.

"I hope the moon isn't too bright," remarked
Mr. Sharp, as he went carefully over the motor
once more, for he did not want it to balk again.
"If it shines too much it will discover us."

"But a little light would be a fine thing, and
show us a good place to land," argued Tom.

Fortune seemed to favor the adventurers. There
was a hazy light from the moon, which was
covered by swiftly moving dark clouds, now and
then, a most effective screen for the airship, as its
great, moving shape, viewed from the earth, re-
sembled nothing so much as one of the clouds.

They made a good landing in a little forest
glade, the craft, under the skillful guidance of Mr.
Sharp and Tom, coming down nicely.

"Now for a trip to town to notify the sheriff,"
said Mr. Sharp. "Tom, I think you had better
go alone. You can explain matters, and Mr.
Damon and I will remain here until you come
back. I should say what you had best do, would
be to get the sheriff to help you locate the gang
of bank robbers. They're in this vicinity and he
ought to be able, with his deputies, to find them."

"I'll ask him," replied Tom, as he set off.

It was rather a lonely walk into the city, from
the woods where the airship had landed, but Tom

THE SHERIFF ON BOARD 195

did not mind it, and, reaching Shagmon, he iif-
quired his way to the home of the sheriff, for
it was long after office hours. He heard, as he
walked along the streets, many persons discussing
the appearance of the airship that morning, and
he was glad they had planned to land after dark,
for more than one citizen was regretting that
he had not had a chance to get the five thousand
dollars reward offered for the arrest of the pas-
sengers in the Red Cloud.

Tom found the sheriff, Mr. Durkin by name,
a genial personage. At the mention of the air-
ship the official grew somewhat excited.

"Are you one of the fellows that looted the
bank?" he inquired, when Torn told him how he
and his friends had arrived at Shagmon.

The young inventor denied the impeachment,
and told his story. He ended up with a request
for the sheriff's aid, at the same time asking if
the officer knew where such a gang as the Happy
Harry one might be in hiding.

"You've come just at the right time, young
man," was the answer of Sheriff Durkin, wten
he was assured of the honesty of Tom's state-,
ments. "I've been on the point, for the last
week, of raiding a camp of men, who have settled
at a disused summer resort about ten miles from
here. I think they're running a gambling game,

196 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

but I haven't been <*ble to get any evidence, and
every time I sent out a posse some one warns the
men, and we can find nothing wrong. I believe
these men are the very ones you want. If we
could only get to them without their suspecting
'it, I think I'd have them right."

"We can do that, Sheriff."

"How?"

"Go in our airship! You come with us, and
we'll put you right over their camp, where you
can drop down on their heads."

"Good land, I never rode in an automobile
even, let alone an airship!" went on the officer.
"I'd be scared out of my wits, and so would my
'deputies."

"Send the 'deputies on ahead," suggested Tom.

THe sheriff hesitated. Then he slapped his
thigH with his big hand.

"By golly! I'll go you!" he declared. "I'll
try capturing criminals in an airship for the first,
time in my life ! Lead the way, young man !"

An hour later Sheriff Durkin was aboard the
Red Cloud, and plans were being talked of for
the capture of the bank robbers, or at least for
raiding the camp where the men were supposed to
be.

CHAPTER XXIII

ON TO THE CAMP

"WELL, you sure have got a fine craft here,"
remarked Sheriff Durkin, as he looked over the
airship after Tom and his friends had told of
their voyage. "It will be quite up-to-date to
raid a gang of bank robbers in a flying machine,
but I guess it will be the only way we can catch
those fellows. Now I'll go back to town, and
the first thing in the morning I'll round-up my
posse and start it off. The men can surround
the camp, and lay quiet until we arrive in this
ship. Then, when we descend on the heads of
the scoundrels, right out of the sky, so to speak,
my men can close in, and bag them all."

"That's a good plan," commented Mr. Sharp,
"but are you sure these are the men we want?
It's pretty vague, I think, but of course the clue
Tom got is pretty slim; merely the name Shag-
mon."

"Well, this is Shagmon," went on the sheriff,
197

198 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

"and, as I told your young friend, I've been
trying for some time to bag the men at the sum-
mer camp. They number quite a few, and if
they don't do anything worse, they run a gambling
game there. I'm pretty sure, if the bank robbers'
are in this vicinity, they're in that camp. Of
course all the men there may not have been en-
gaged in looting the vault, and they may not all
know of it, but it won't do any harm to round-up,
the whole bunch."

After a tour of the craft, and waiting to take
a little refreshment with his new friends, the
sheriff left, promising to come as early on the
morrow as possible.

"Let's go to bed," suggested Mr. Sharp, after
a bit. "We've got hard work ahead of us to*
morrow/'

They were up early, and, in the seclusion of the
little glade in the woods, Tom and Mr. Sharp
went over every part of the airship.

The sheriff arrived about nine o'clock, and an-
nounced that he had started off through the
woods, to surround the camp, twenty-five men.

"They'll be there at noon," Mr. Durkin said,
"and will close in when I give the signal, which
will be two shots fired. I heard just before I
came here that there are some new arrivals at the
camp/'

ON TO THE CAMP 199

"Maybe those are the men I overheard talking
in the office building," suggested Tom. "They
probably came to get their share. WeH, we must
swoop down on them before they have time to
distribute the money."

"That's what !" agreed the county official. Mr.
Durkin was even more impressed by the airship
in the daytime than he had been at night. He
examined every part, and when the time came to
start, he was almost as unconcerned as any of the
three travelers who had covered many hundreds
of miles in the air.

"This is certainly great!" cried the sheriff, as
the airship rose swiftly under the influence of the
powerful gas.

As the craft went higher and higher his en-
thusiasm grew. He was not the least afraid,
but then Sheriff Durkin was accounted a nervy
individual under all circumstances.

"Lay her a little off to the left," the officer
advised Tom who was at the steering wheel. "The
main camp is right over there. How long before
, we will reach it ?"

"We can get there in about fifteen minutes, if
we run at top speed," answered the lad, his hand
on the switch that controlled the motor. "Shall
we?"

"No use burning up the air. Besides, my men

200 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

have hardly had time to surround the camp. It' a
in deep woods. If I were you I'd get right over
it, and then rise up out of sight so they can't see
you. Then, when it's noon you can go down, I'll
fire the signal and the fun will commence — that
is, fun for us, but not so much for those chaps, I
fancy," and the sheriff smiled grimly.

The sheriff's plan was voted a good one, and,
accordingly, the ship, after nearing a spot about
over the camp, was sent a mile or two into the
air, hovering as nearly as possible over one spot

Shortly before twelve, the sheriff having seen
to the weapons he brought with him, gave the
signal to descend. Down shot the Red Cloud
dropping swiftly when the gas was allowed to es-
cape from the red container, and also urged to-
ward the earth by the deflected rudder.

"Are you all ready?" cried the sheriff, looking
at his watch.

"All ready," replied Mr. Sharp.

"Then here goes," went on the officer, drawing
his revolver, and firing two shots in quick suc-
cession.

Two shots from the woods below answered
him. Faster dropped the Red Cloud toward the
camp of the criminals.

CHAPTER XXIV

THE RAID

"LOOK for a good place to land!" cried Mr.
Sharp to Tom. "Any small, level place will do.
Turn on the gas full power as soon as you feel
the first contact, and then shut it off so as to hold
her down. Then jump out and take a hand in
the fight!"

"That's right," cried the sheriff. "Fight's the
word! They're breaking from cover now," he
added, as he looked over the side of the cabin,
from one of the windows. "The rascals have
taken the alarm!"

The airship was descending toward a little glade
in the woods surrounding the old picnic ground.
Men, mostly of the tramp sort, could be seen
running to and fro.

"I hope my deputies close in promptly," mur-
mured the sheriff. "There's a bigger bunch there
than I counted on."

From the appearance of the gang rushing about
201

202 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

it seemed as if there were at least fifty of them.
Some of the fellows caught sight of the air-
ship, and, with yells, pointed upward.

Nearer and nearer to the earth settled the Red
Cloud. The criminals in the camp were running
wildly about. Several squads of them darted
through the woods, only to come hurriedly back,
where they called to their companions.

"Ha! My men are evidently on the job!" ex-
claimed the sheriff. "They are turning the rascals
back!"

Some of the gang were so alarmed at the sight
of the great airship settling down on their camp,
that they could only stand and stare at it. Others
were gathering sticks and stones, as if for resist-
ance, and some could be seen to have weapons.
Off to one side was a small hut, rather better
than the rest of the tumbledown shacks in which
the tramps lived. Tom noticed this, and saw sev-
eral men gathered about it. One seemed familiar
to the lad. He called the attention of Mr. Damon
to the fellow.

"Do you know him ?" asked Tom eagerly.

"Bless my very existence! If it isn't Anson
Morse! One of the gang!" cried the eccentric
man.

"That's what I thought," agreed Tom. "The
bank robbers are here," he added, to the sheriff.

THE RAID 203

"If we only recover the money^ we'll be doing
well/' remarked Mr. Sharp.

Suddenly there came a shout from the fringe of
woods surrounding the camp, and an instant later
there burst from the bushes a number of men.

"My posse!" cried the sheriff. "We ought to
be down now !"

The airship was a hundred feet 'above the
ground, but Tom, opening wider the gas outlet,
sent the craft more quickly down. Then, just
as it touched the earth, he forced a mass of vapor
into the container, making the ship buoyant so as
to reduce the shock.

An instant later the ship was stationary.

Out leaped the sheriff.

"Give it to 'em, men !" he shouted.

With a yell his men responded, and fired a
volley in the air.

"Come on, Tom!" called Mr. Sharp. "We'll
make for the hut where you saw Morse."

"I'll come too ! I'll come too !" cried Mr. Damon,
rushing along as fast as he could, a seltzer bottle
in either hand.

Tom's chief interest was to reach the men he
suspected were the bank robbers. The lad dashed
through the woods toward the hut near which
he had seen Morse. He and Mr. Sharp reached
it about the same time. As they came in frort

204 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

of it out dashed Happy Harry, the tramp. He
was followed by Morse and the man named
Featherton. The latter carried a black valise.

"Hey! Drop that!" shouted Mr. Sharp.

"Drop nothing!" yelled the man.

"Go on ! Go on !" urged Morse. 'Take to the
woods ! We'll deal with these fellows !"

"Oh, you will, eh?" shouted Tom, and remem^
bering his football days he made a dive between
Morse and Happy Harry for the man with the
bag, which he guessed contained the stolen
money. The lad made a good tackle, and grabbed
Featherton about the legs. He went down in a
heap, with Tom on top. Our hero was feeling
about for the valise, when he felt a stunning blow
on the back of his head. He turned over quickly
to see Morse in the act of delivering a second
kick. Tom grew faint, and dimly saw the leader
of the gang reach down for the valise.

This gave our hero sudden energy. He was
not going to lose everything, when it was just
within his grasp. Conquering, by a strong ef-
fort, his feeling of dizziness, he scrambled to his
feet, and made a grab for Morse. The latter
fended him off, but Tom came savagely back
at him, all his fighting blood up. The effects of
the cowardly blow were passing off.

THE RAID 205

The lad managed to get one hand on the handle
of the bag.

"Let go!" cried Morse, and he dealt Tom a
blow in the face. It staggered the youth, but
he held on grimly, and raised his left hand and
arm as a guard. At the same time he endeavored
to twist the valise loose from Morse's hold. The
man raised his foot to kick Tom, but at that
moment there was a curious hissing sound, and a
stream of frothy liquid shot over the lad's head
right into the face of the man, blinding him.

"Ha! Take that! And more of it!" shouted
Mr. Damon, and a second stream of seltzer
squirted into the face of Morse.

With a yell of rage he let go his hold of the
satchel, and Tom staggered back with it. The
lad saw Mr. Damon rushing toward the now
disabled leader, playing both bottles of seltzer on
him. Then, when all the liquid was gone the
eccentric man began to beat Morse over the head
and shoulders with the heavy bottles until the
scoundrel begged for mercy.

Tom was congratulating himself on his success
in getting the bag when Happy Harry, the tramp,
rushed at him.

"I guess I'll take that !" he roared, and, wheel-
ing Tom around, at the same time striking him

206 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

full in the face, the ugly man made a grab for
the valise.

His hand had hardly touched it before he went
down like a log, the sound of a powerful blow
causing Tom to look up. He saw Mr. Sharp
standing over the prostrate tramp, who had been
cleanly knocked out.

"Are you all right, Tom?" asked the balloonist.

"Yes— trifle dizzy, that's all— I've got the
money !"

"Are you sure?"

Tom opened the valise. A glance was enough
to show that it was stuffed with bills.

Happy Harry showed signs of coming to, and
Mr. Sharp, with a few turns of a rope he had
brought along, soon secured him. Morse was too
exhausted to fight more, for the seltzer entering
his mouth and nose, had deprived him of breath,
and he fell an easy prisoner to Mr. Damon.

Morse was soon tied up. The other members
of the Happy Harry gang had escaped.

Meanwhile the sheriff and his men were having
a fight with the crowd of tramps, but as the posse
was determined and the criminals mostly of the
class known as "hobos/' the battle was not a very
severe one. Several of the sheriff's men were
slightly injured, however, and a few of the tramps
escaped.

THE RAID 207

"A most successful raid," commented tfie sheriff,
when quiet was restored, and a number of prison-
ers were lined up, all tied securely. "Did you get
the money?"

"Almost all of it," answered Tom, who, now
that Morse and Happy Harry were securely tied,
had busied himself, with the aid of Mr. Sharp
and Mr. Damon, in counting the bills. "Only
about two thousand dollars are missing. I think
the bank will be glad enough to charge that to
profit and loss."

"I guess so," added the sheriff. "I'm certainly
much obliged to you for the use of your airship.
Otherwise the raid wouldn't have been so success-
ful. Well, now we'll get the prisoners to jail."

It was necessary to hire rigs from nearby
farmers to accomplish this. As for Morse and
Happy Harry, they were placed in the airship,
and, under guard of the sheriff and two deputies,
were taken to the county seat. The criminals
were too dazed over the rough treatment they had
received, and over their sudden capture, to notice
the fact of riding through the air to jail.

"Now for home!" cried Tom, when the prison-
ers had been disposed of. "Home to clear our
names and take this money to the bank !"

"And receive the reward," added Mr. Sharp,
with a smile. "Don't forget that!"

2o8 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

"Oh, yes, and I'll see that you get a share too,
Mr. Durkin," went on Tom. "Only for your aid
we never would have gotten these men and the
money."

"Oh, I guess we're about even on that score,"
responded the official. "I'm glad to break up
that gang."

The next morning Tom and his friends started
for home in the Red Cloud.

They took with them evidence as to the guilt
of the two men — Morse and Happy Harry. The
men confessed that they and their pals had robbed
the bank of Shopton, the night before Tom and
his friends sailed on their trip. In fact that
was the object for which the gang hung around
Shopton. After securing their booty they had
gone to the camp of the tramps at Shagmon,
where they hid, hoping they would not be traced.
But the words Tom had overheard had been their
undoing. The men who arrived at the camp just
before the raid were the same ones the young in-
ventor heard talking in the office building. They
had come to get their share of the loot, which
Morse held, and with which he tried so desper-
ately to get away. Tom's injuries were not se-
rious and did not bother him after being treated
by a physician.

CHAPTER XXV

ANDY GETS HIS REWARD

FLYING swiftly through the air the young in-
ventor and his two companions were soon within
sight of Shopton. As they approached the town
from over the lake, and a patch of woods, they
attracted no attention until they were near home,
and the craft settled down easily in the yard of
the Swift property.

That the aged inventor was glad to see his s#ft
back need not be said, and Mrs. Baggert's wel-
come was scarcely less warm than that of Mr.
Swift. Mr. Sharp and Mr. Damon were also
made to feel that their friends were glad to see
them safe again.

"We must go at once and see Mr. Pendergast,
the bank president," declared Mr. Swift. "We
must take the money to him, and demand that
he withdraw the offer of reward for your arrest."

"Yes," agreed Tom. "I guess the reward will
go to some one besides Andy Foger."

209

210 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

There was considerable surprise on the part of
the bank clerks when our hero, and his friends,
walked in, carrying a heavy black bag. But they
could only conjecture what was in the wind, for
the party was immediately closeted with the
president.

Mr. Pendergast was so startled that he hardly
knew what to say when Tom, aided by Mr. Sharp,
told his story. But the return of the money,
with documents from Sheriff Durkin, certifying
as to the arrest of Morse and Happy Harry, soon
convinced him of the truth of the account.

"It's the most wonderful thing I ever heard,"
said the president.

"Well, what are you going to do about it?"*
asked Mr. Damon. "You have accused Tom and
myself of being thieves, and "

"I apologize — I apologize most humbly!" ex-
claimed Mr. Pendergast. "I also "

"What about the reward ?" went on Mr. Damon.
"Bless my bank notes, I don't want any of it, for
I have enough, but I think Tom and Mr. Sharp
and the sheriff are entitled to it."

"Certainly," said the president, "certainly. It
will be paid at once. I will call a meeting of the
directors. In fact they are all in the bank now,
save Mr. Foger, and I can reach him by telephone.
If you will just rest yourselves in that room there

ANDY GETS HIS REWARD 211

I will summon you before the board, when it
convenes, and be most happy to pay over the five
thousand dollars reward. It is the most wonder-
ful thing I ever heard of — most wonderful!"

In a room adjoining that of the president, Tom,
his father and Mr. Damon waited for the di-
rectors to meet. Mr. Foger could be heard en-
tering a little later.

"What's this I hear, Pendergast ?" he cried,
rubbing his hands. "The bank robbers captured,
eh? Well, that's good news. Of course we'll
pay the reward. I always knew my boy was a
smart lad. Five thousand dollars will be a tidy
sum for him. Of course his chum, Sam Snedecker
is entitled to some, but not much. So they've
caught Tom Swift and that rascally Damon, eh?
I always knew he was a scoundrel! Putting
money in here as a blind !"

Mr. Damon heard, and shook his fist.

"I'll make him suffer for that," he whispered.

"Tom Swift arrested, eh?" went on Mr. Foger.
"I always knew he was a bad egg. Who caught
them? Where are they?"

"In the next room," replied Mr. Pendergast,
who loved a joke almost as well as did Tom.
"They may come out now," added the president,
opening the door, and sending Ned Newton in

212 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

to summon Tom, Mr. Swift and Mr. Damon,
who filed out before the board of directors.

"Gentlemen," began the president, "I have the
pleasure of presenting to you Mr. Thomas Swift,
Mr. Barton Swift and Mr. Wakefield Damon. I
also have the honor to announce that Mr. Thomas
Swift and Mr. Damon have been instrumental in
capturing the burglars who recently robbed our
bank, and I am happy to add that young Mr.
Swift and Mr. Wakefield Damon have, this morn-
ing, brought to me all but a small part of the
money stolen from us. Which money they suc-
ceeded, after a desperate fight- — "

"A fight partly with seltzer bottles/' inter-
rupted Mr. Damon proudly. "Don't forget them."

"Partly with seltzer bottles," conceded the
president with a smile. "After a fight they suc-
ceeded in getting the money back. Here it is, and
I now suggest that we pay the reward we
promised."

"What? Reward? Pay them? The money
back? Isn't my son to receive the five thousand
'dollars for informing as to the identity of the
1 thief — isn't he?" demanded Mr. Foger, almost
suffocating from his astonishment at the unex-
pected announcement.

"Hardly," answered Mr. Pendergast dryly.
"Your son's information happened to be very

'AN0Y GETS HIS REWARD. 213

wrong. The tools he saw Tom have in the bag
were airship tools, not burglar's. And the same
gang that once robbed Mr. Swift robbed our
^bank. Tom Swift captured them, and is entitled
to the reward. It will be necessary for us di-
' rectors to make up the sum, personally, and I,
for one, am very glad to do so."

"So am I," came in a chorus from the others
seated at the table.

"But — er — I understood that my son — " stam-
mered Mr. Foger, who did not at all relish hav-
ing to see his son lose the reward.

"It was all a mistake about your son," com-
mented Mr. Pendergast. "Gentlemen, is it your
desire that I write out a* check for young Mr.
Swift?"

They all voted in the affirmative, even Mr.
Foger being obliged to do so, much against his
wishes. He was a very much chagrined man,
when the directors' meeting broke up. Word was
sent at once, by telegraph, to all the cities where
reward posters had been displayed, recalling the
offer, and stating that Tom Swift and Mr.
Damon were cleared. Mr. Sharp had never been
really accused.

"Well, let's go home," suggested Tom when he
had the five-thousand-dollar check in his pocket.

214 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

"I want another ride in the Red Cloud as soon as
it's repaired."

"So do I !" declared Mr. Damon.

The eccentric man and Mr. Swift walked on
ahead, and Tom strolled down toward the dock,
for he thought he would take a short trip in his
motor-boat.

He was near the lake, not having met man^
persons, when he saw a figure running up from
the water. He knew who it was in an instant — •
Andy Foger. As for the bully, at the sight oi
Tom he hesitated, than came boldly on. Evidently
he had not heard of our hero's arrival.

"Ha !" exclaimed the red-haired lad, "I've been
looking for you. The police want you, Tom
Swift."

"Oh, do they?" asked the young inventor
gently.

"Yes; for robbery. I'm going to get the re-
ward, too. You thought you were smart, but I
saw those burglar tools in your valise. I sent the
police after you. So you've come back, eh ? I'm
going to tell Chief Simonson. You wait."

"Yes," answered Tom, "I'll wait. So the police
want me, do they?"

"That's what they do," snarled Andy. "I told
you I'd get even with you, and I've done it."

"Well," burst out Tom, unable to longer contain

ANDY GETS HIS REWARD 215

himself, as he thought of all he had suffered at
the hands of the red-haired bully, "I said I'd get
even with yon, but I haven't done it yet. I'ni
going to now. Take off your coat, Andy. You
and I are going to have a little argument."

"Don't you dare lay a finger on me !" blustered
the squint-eyed one.

Tom peeled off his coat. Andy, who saw that
he could not escape, rushed forward, and dealt
the young inventor a blow on the chest. That was
all Tom wanted, and the next instant he went at
Andy hammer and tongs. The bully tried to fight,
but he had no chance with his antagonist, who
was righteously angry, and who made every blow
tell. It was a sorry-looking Andy Foger who
begged for mercy a little later.

Tom had no desire to administer more than a
deserved reward to the bully, but perhaps he did
add a little for interest. At any rate Andy thought
so.

"You just wait!" he cried, as he limped off.
"I'll make you sorry for this."

"Oh, don't go to any trouble on my account,"
said Tom gently, as he put on his coat. But Andy
idid go to considerable trouble to be revenged on
the young inventor, and whether he succeeded or
not you may learn by reading the fourth book of
this series, to be called "Tom Swift and His

2l6 TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

Submarine Boat ; or, Under the Ocean for Sunken
Treasure," in which I shall relate the particu-
lars of a voyage that was marvelous in the
extreme.

Tom reached home in a very pleasant frame of
mind that afternoon. Things had turned out
much better than he thought they would. A few
weeks later the two bank Tobbers, ^vhoi were
found guilty, were sentenced to long terms, but
their companions were not captured. Tom sent
Sheriff Durkin a share of the reward, and the
lad invested his own share in bank stock, after
giving some to Mr. Sharp. Mr. Damon refusecj
to accept any. As for Mr. Swift, once he saw
matters straightened out, and his son safe, he re-
sumed his work on his prize submarine boat, his
son helping him.

As for Tom, he alternated his spare time be-
tween trips in the airship and his motor-boat, and
frequently a certain young lady from the Rocks-
mond Seminary was his companion. I fhink you
know her name by this time. Now, for a while,
we will take leave of Tom Swift and his friends,
trusting to meet them again.

THE END

Tfus Isn't AIL'

Would you like to know what
became of the good friends you
have made in this book?

Would you like to read other
stories continuing their adventures
and experiences, or other books
quite as entertaining by the same
author?

On the reverse side of the wrap-
per which comes with this book,
you will find a wonderful list of
stories which you can buy at the
same store where you got this book.

Don't throw away the Wrapper

Use it as a handy catalog of the books
you want some day to have. ^But in
case you do mislay it, write to the
^Publishers for a complete catalog.

THE TOM SWIFT SERIES

By VICTOR APPLETON

Uniform Style of Binding. Individual Colored Wrappers.
Every Volume Complete in Itself.

Every boy possesses some form of inventive genius.
Tom Swift is a bright, ingenious boy and his inventions
and adventures make the most interesting kind of reading.

TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR CYCLE

TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR BOAT

TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP

TOM SWIFT AND HIS SUBMARINE BOAT

TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RUNABOUT

TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIRELESS MESSAGE

TOM SWIFT AMONG THE DIAMOND MAKERS

TOM SWIFT IN THE CAVES OF ICE

TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER

TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RIFLE

TOM SWIFT IN THE CITY OF GOLD

TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR GLIDER

TOM SWIFT IN CAPTIVITY

TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIZARD CAMERA

TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT SEARCHLIGHT

TOM SWIFT AND HIS GIANT CANNON

TOM SWIFT AND HIS PHOTO TELEPHONE

TOM SWIFT AND HIS AERIAL WARSHIP

TOM SWIFT AND HIS BIG TUNNEL

TOM SWIFT IN THE LAND OF WONDERS

TOM SWIFT AND HIS WAR TANK

TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR SCOUT

TOM SWIFT AND HIS UNDERSEA SEARCH

TOM SWIFT AMONG THE FIRE FIGHTERS

TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE

TOM SWIFT AND HIS FLYING BOAT

TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT OIL GUSHER

TOM SWIFT AND HIS CHEST OF SECRETS

TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRLINE EXPRESS

GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK

THE DON STURDY SERIES

By VICTOR APPLETON

Individual Colored Wrappers and Text Illustrations by

WALTER S. ROGERS
Every Volume Complete in Itself

In company with his uncles, one a mighty hunter and
the other a noted scientist, Don Sturdy travels far and wide,
gaining much useful knowledge and meeting many thrill-
ing adventures.

DON STURDY ON THE DESERT OF MYS-
Or, Autoing in the Land of the Caravans. TERY;

An engrossing tale of the Sahara Desert, of encounters
with wild animals and crafty Arabs.

DON STURDY WITH THE BIG SNAKE
Or, Lost in the Jungles of the Amazon. HUNTERS;
Don's uncle, the hunter, took an order for some of the
biggest snakes to be found in South America — to be deliv-
ered alive ! The filling of that order brought keen excite-
ment to the boy.

DON STURDY IN THE TOMBS OF GOLD;
Or, The Old Egyptian's Great Secret.

A fascinating tale of exploration and adventure in the
Valley of Kings in Egypt. Once the whole party became
lost in the maze of cavelike tombs far underground.

DON STURDY ACROSS THE NORTH POLE;
Or, Cast Away in the Land of Ice.

Don and his uncles joined an expedition bound by air
across the north pole. A great polar blizzard nearly wrecks
the airship.

DON STURDY IN THE LAND OF VOLCANOES;
Or, The Trail of the Ten Thousand Smokes.

An absorbing tale of adventures among the volcanoes of
Alaska in a territory but recently explored. A story that
will make Don dearer to his readers than ever.

GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK

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THE RADIO BOYS SERIES

(Trademark Registered)

By ALLEN CHAPMAN
Author of the "Railroad Series," Etc.

Individual Colored Wrappers. Illustrated.
Every Volume Complete in Itself.

A new series for boys giving full details of radio work,
both in sending and receiving — telling how small and
large amateur sets can be made and operated, and how
some boys got a lot of fun and adventure out of what they
•did. Each volume from first to last is so thoroughly fas-
cinating, so strictly up-to-date and accurate, we feel sure
all lads will peruse them with great delfght.

Each volume has a Foreword by Jack Binns, the well-
known radio expert.

THE RADIO BOYS' FIRST WIRELESS
.THE RADIO BOYS AT OCEAN POINT
[THE RADIO BOYS AT THE SENDING

STATION

THE RADIO BOYS AT MOUNTAIN PASS
THE RADIO BOYS TRAILING A VOICE
THE RADIO BOYS WITH THE FOREST

RANGERS
THE RADIO BOYS WITH THE ICEBERG

PATROL
THE RADIO BOYS WITH THE FLOOD

FIGHTERS

THE RADIO BOYS ON SIGNAL ISLAND
THE RADIO BOYS IN GOLD VALLEY

GROSSET & DUNLAP, PtMhhtrs, NEW YORK

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